The Big Dipper is high overhead in the northern sky. It is upside down, puring its celestial contents in the night sky. The Big Dipper is not actually a constellation, and is often mistakenly referred to as such. There are eighty-eight recognized constellations, and a number of groups of stars called asterisms. The Big Dipper is an asterism.
Asterisms are familiar, easily recognized groups of stars.
They are usually part of a constellation. The Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. Look along the handle of the Dipper for the next to last star. This star is Mizar and it has a companion star called Alcor.