Dubhe
Alpha Ursae Majoris · Ursa Major
Position (2026)
♌ 15°34' Leo
Magnitude
1.81
Planetary Nature
Mars (robson)
Robson: Mars. Ptolemy gives the stars in the shoulders of the Great Bear as Mars.
Spectral Type
F7V comp
Appearance
An orange giant with a fainter companion, forming the leading edge of the Big Dipper's bowl
Name Origin
Language
Arabic
Original Form
Thahr al-Dubb al-Akbar
Meaning
Back of the Greater Bear
Alpha Ursae Majoris. From the Arabic Thahr al-Dubb al-Akbar, the Back of the Greater Bear. Shortened to Dubbe, then Dubhe. With Merak, it forms the Pointers, the line that leads the eye to Polaris. Allen records extensive navigation lore connected to this pair.
Known As
Dubhe in Astrology
Dubhe, the Pointer star of the Great Bear in Ursa Major, carries Mars energy that bestows a natural gift for guidance and orientation. It grants you a directive instinct, an ability to point others toward what they need to find and to serve as a reliable reference in times of confusion. The Mars nature here is channeled into purposeful direction rather than combat, and you naturally guide others toward their destination.
Mythology & History
Dubhe takes its name from the Arabic Thahr al-Dubb al-Akbar, meaning 'the back of the Great Bear.' It is the second-brightest star in Ursa Major and one of the two pointer stars that guide observers to Polaris. In Chinese astronomy, Dubhe was Tian Shu, the Celestial Pivot, reflecting its role as a guide to the pole. The Mars nature of Dubhe gives it an assertive, directive quality: it is the star that points the way, the guide that commands attention and directs the gaze toward the true north.
Dubhe and Merak are universally known as the Pointer Stars because a line drawn from Merak through Dubhe, extended roughly five times that distance, leads directly to Polaris. This technique has been the primary method for locating true north throughout the history of celestial navigation. The Big Dipper appears in Chinese astronomical records from the Warring States period, where Dubhe was called the Pivot. In Hindu tradition, Dubhe is identified with the sage Kratu, one of the Seven Rishis represented by the seven stars of Ursa Major.
Ursa Major Context
Dubhe marks the upper-right corner of the Big Dipper's bowl, the star from which the imaginary line extends through Merak to point at Polaris. In Ursa Major mythology, Dubhe sits on the bear's back, near the shoulder, a position of strength and the point where the beast's forward momentum is most concentrated. The pointer function gives Dubhe a quality of service through direction: it does not itself occupy the pole but unfailingly guides others to it.
Learn more about Ursa Major and its stars.
Natal Conjunctions
Find your conjunctions →Dubhe Conjunct Sun
Dubhe conjunct the Sun produces a personality with a natural gift for showing others the way. You possess a directive quality that orients people toward important destinations, and your identity is defined by the capacity to point toward what matters rather than seeking attention for yourself.
Dubhe Conjunct Moon
Dubhe conjunct the Moon creates emotional instincts oriented toward guiding others. Your feelings naturally orient you toward what needs attention, and emotional security comes through the satisfaction of having helped someone find their direction.
Dubhe Conjunct Mercury
Dubhe conjunct Mercury gives a mind that instinctively identifies what is most important and communicates it with directive clarity. You possess a talent for cutting through confusion to indicate the essential point, and others rely on your intellectual orientation.
Dubhe Conjunct Venus
Dubhe conjunct Venus brings a guiding, directive quality to love and creative expression. You attract through the quality of pointing others toward beauty and meaning, and relationships are enriched by your instinct for showing partners where to look.
Dubhe Conjunct Mars
Dubhe conjunct Mars channels assertive energy into active, forceful guidance. You direct others with martial clarity and possess the courage to point toward difficult truths when the situation demands it. Service through direction is your natural mode of action.
Dubhe Conjunct Jupiter
Dubhe conjunct Jupiter expands the guiding instinct into broad, philosophically informed orientation. You direct others toward large truths and expansive destinations, and your generosity expresses through helping people find their way in the largest sense.
Dubhe Conjunct Saturn
Dubhe conjunct Saturn grounds the guiding instinct in reliable, structural orientation sustained across decades. You become the fixed reference point that others use to find their bearings, and your directive authority grows through years of demonstrated accuracy.
Dubhe Conjunct Uranus
Dubhe conjunct Uranus points toward unexpected destinations and unconventional truths. You guide others in directions that surprise conventional thinking, and your directive instinct identifies opportunities and paths that established guidance would overlook.
Dubhe Conjunct Neptune
Dubhe conjunct Neptune infuses the guiding instinct with spiritual sensitivity and intuitive directional awareness. You sense where others need to go before they do and possess a gift for orienting people toward their deepest purpose through gentle, intuitive indication.
Dubhe Conjunct Pluto
Dubhe conjunct Pluto transforms the guiding instinct into the power to direct others toward fundamental, transformative encounters. You point toward truths that permanently alter understanding, and your directive capacity operates at the deepest levels of change.
Dubhe Conjunct North Node
Dubhe conjunct the North Node orients destiny toward developing the capacity for reliable, trustworthy guidance that helps others find their direction and purpose.
Dubhe Conjunct Ascendant
Dubhe on the Ascendant gives a directive, orienting presence that others instinctively follow. You project the quality of someone who knows which way to go, and people naturally look to you when they have lost their bearings.
Dubhe Conjunct Midheaven
Dubhe on the Midheaven builds a career through reliable, directive professional guidance. Recognition comes through the accuracy and trustworthiness of your professional orientation, and your career serves as a reference point for others in your field.
Paran Interpretations
Parans describe what happens when Dubhe and a planet simultaneously occupy the four angles (rising, culminating, setting, nadir) at a given location.
Dubhe in Paran with Sun
Rising
Dubhe rising with the Sun marks someone who enters life with a natural gift for pointing others toward what matters.
Culminating
Dubhe culminating with the Sun places reliable directive guidance at the peak of public recognition and career achievement.
Setting
Dubhe setting with the Sun suggests a legacy of trustworthy guidance and directional wisdom honored in the reflective later years.
At the Nadir
Dubhe at the nadir with the Sun reveals a deeply private orienting instinct that silently directs all outward guiding action.
Dubhe in Paran with Moon
Rising
Dubhe rising with the Moon instills early emotional instincts for guiding others and showing them what needs attention.
Culminating
Dubhe culminating with the Moon brings emotionally guided directive wisdom to its most publicly visible and effective form.
Setting
Dubhe setting with the Moon indicates guiding emotional instincts that grow more accurately directive and trusted with age.
At the Nadir
Dubhe at the nadir with the Moon conceals a deep emotional orienting capacity that operates beneath visible interaction.
Dubhe in Paran with Mercury
Rising
Dubhe rising with Mercury bestows early communicative clarity and the talent for indicating what is most important.
Culminating
Dubhe culminating with Mercury elevates directive, orienting communication to the highest professional standard.
Setting
Dubhe setting with Mercury suggests directive thinking that grows more precisely accurate and reliably guiding with decades.
At the Nadir
Dubhe at the nadir with Mercury reveals a hidden capacity for identifying essentials that operates beneath ordinary thought.
Dubhe in Paran with Venus
Rising
Dubhe rising with Venus shapes early love with a guiding, orienting quality that shows partners toward beauty and meaning.
Culminating
Dubhe culminating with Venus brings recognition for art and love expressed with a natural gift for pointing toward what matters.
Setting
Dubhe setting with Venus suggests creative and romantic expression that grows more meaningfully directive with maturity.
At the Nadir
Dubhe at the nadir with Venus conceals a private aesthetic compass that quietly orients all creative and relational choices.
Dubhe in Paran with Mars
Rising
Dubhe rising with Mars channels early physical energy into assertive, forceful guidance and directional service.
Culminating
Dubhe culminating with Mars places energetic directive action and courageous guidance at the peak of professional life.
Setting
Dubhe setting with Mars indicates the courage to point toward difficult truths that grows more effective with age.
At the Nadir
Dubhe at the nadir with Mars conceals reserves of directive courage that surface when others need forceful guidance.
Dubhe in Paran with Jupiter
Rising
Dubhe rising with Jupiter expands early guiding instincts into broad philosophical orientation and expansive direction.
Culminating
Dubhe culminating with Jupiter brings peak achievement through expansive, philosophically informed guidance and leadership.
Setting
Dubhe setting with Jupiter indicates growing directional wisdom and expanding guiding influence in the later years.
At the Nadir
Dubhe at the nadir with Jupiter reveals vast inner directional wisdom and philosophical orientation that fuels all outward guidance.
Dubhe in Paran with Saturn
Rising
Dubhe rising with Saturn demands early discipline in developing reliable, structurally sound directional skills.
Culminating
Dubhe culminating with Saturn achieves lasting authority as a guide through decades of demonstrated directional accuracy.
Setting
Dubhe setting with Saturn builds an enduring reputation for reliable, trustworthy guidance recognized across generations.
At the Nadir
Dubhe at the nadir with Saturn establishes inner reserves of directional discipline and orienting patience that sustain guiding work.
Dubhe in Paran with Ascendant
Rising
Dubhe rising with the Ascendant stamps the personality with visible directive clarity and natural orienting authority.
Culminating
Dubhe culminating with the Ascendant projects reliable guiding presence onto the broadest possible stage.
Setting
Dubhe setting with the Ascendant draws others who instinctively trust your sense of direction and follow your lead.
At the Nadir
Dubhe at the nadir with the Ascendant grounds personal identity in a deeply private orienting instinct and directional compass.
Dubhe in Paran with Midheaven
Rising
Dubhe rising with the Midheaven launches a career defined by reliable professional guidance and directional leadership.
Culminating
Dubhe culminating with the Midheaven represents peak career achievement through accurate, trusted directional authority.
Setting
Dubhe setting with the Midheaven indicates a career legacy of guiding contributions and directional wisdom valued long after.
At the Nadir
Dubhe at the nadir with the Midheaven builds career success on hidden foundations of accurate directional instinct and orienting discipline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the name Dubhe mean?
The name Dubhe comes from Arabic: Thahr al-Dubb al-Akbar, meaning "Back of the Greater Bear." Alpha Ursae Majoris. The star is known by 3 different cultural names across world traditions.
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