Ursa Major Moving Group - Group Members

Group Members

Current criteria for membership in the moving group is based on the stars' motion in space. This motion can be determined from the proper motions and parallax (or distance) to the stars and radial velocities. The Hipparcos satellite has recently greatly improved both the proper motion and parallax estimates of nearby bright stars, refining the study of this and other moving groups .

Based on their distances (measured with Hipparcos) and apparent magnitude, the absolute magnitude can be used to estimate the age of the stars. The stars in the moving group appear to have a common age of about 500 million years.

Read more about this topic:  Ursa Major Moving Group

Famous quotes containing the words group and/or members:

    Laughing at someone else is an excellent way of learning how to laugh at oneself; and questioning what seem to be the absurd beliefs of another group is a good way of recognizing the potential absurdity of many of one’s own cherished beliefs.
    Gore Vidal (b. 1925)

    I esteem it the happiness of this country that its settlers, whilst they were exploring their granted and natural rights and determining the power of the magistrate, were united by personal affection. Members of a church before whose searching covenant all rank was abolished, they stood in awe of each other, as religious men.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)