From what constellation did the Arctic get its name?

Answer 1

The arctic got its name from the constellation Ursa Major, also known as the"Great Bear". The Big Dipper is the tail of the "bear". It is the most prominant constellation in the Northern Hemisphere. Arctic is actually from the Latin Arcticus which in turn comes from the Greek work arkitikus which means Northern Bear. The Greek word for bear is Arktos and so Northern Bear referred to what they saw when they gazed towards the northern heavens. Originally the Arctic was any area situated under, the northern constellation called the Bear (Ursa Major), science has since of course given us more accurate definitions. Arctic now means anything north of latitude 66° 32 N. Antarctic is of course anti-arctic the "opposite" of artcic. A) Aries B) Sagittarius C) Ursa Major