Re: Does the big dipper move?

Hi Heather
Does the Big Dipper move? This is an interesting question. On the surface 
it appears that a simple yes or no would do the trick. As you probably have 
learned by now, life is rarely that simple. 
The Big Dipper has a whole does not move relative to the earth. It just 
appears to move because the earth itself is rotating on its axis. The 
entire sky appears to move as one as the earth turns underneath. The sun, 
moon and stars travel from east to west as we rotate from west to east. To 
prove this to yourself, go out one night every hour and note the position 
of a constellation. It will appear to move across the sky. There is another 
motion caused by the earths travel around the sun in its orbit. This causes 
the constellations to appear in a slightly different place each night at 
the same time. To prove this to yourself, go out at the same time once a 
week for the next few months and mark the position of the constellations. 
Each night they will appear in a slightly different location. If the 
weather is bad or it is very bright at night where you are, go to this web 
site, http://www.heavens-above.com/ 
Click where it says to select your location, Choose your country and type 
in your city. Select the city where you live. The page that you go to will 
give you lots of choices. Select Whole sky chart and you will get a map of 
the sky. You can enter any month, day,  year and time that you choose. Here 
you can play with the map and see just how the stars appear to move.
There is one more motion that I want to mention. The stars themselves are 
each moving through space. Each star in the Big Dipper is moving. That 
motion from the earth is called proper motion. The shape of the Big Dipper 
will change very slowly through time. In ten thousand years it will appear 
much differently. 
I hope that this answered your question. Check out for yourself how the 
stars appear to move.