大熊座是一个星座，在北半球的大部分常年可见。

这个星座拥有全天最显着的星象，即北斗七星。许多古代文明都认为这个星座的星象是一只熊（但古代中国认为是一个斗，古代埃及称为公牛的左脚）。在希腊神话中，宙斯为了使美丽的仙女卡利斯托逃脱天后赫拉的忌妒，把她变成了一只熊。但赫拉仍然穷追不舍，命令狩猎女神阿耳忒弥斯射杀这只熊，宙斯不得已把大熊提升为天上的星座。

Ursa Major /ˈɜːrsə ˈmeɪdʒər/ (also known as the Great Bear) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy (second century AD), it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It can be visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. Its name, Latin for "the greater (or larger) she-bear", stands as a reference to and in direct contrast with Ursa Minor, "the smaller she-bear", with which it is frequently associated in mythology and amateur astronomy. The constellation's most recognizable asterism, a group of seven relatively bright stars commonly known as the "Big Dipper", "the Wagon" or "the Plough" (among others), both mimics the shape of the lesser bear (the "Little Dipper") and is commonly used as a navigational pointer towards the current northern pole star, Polaris in Ursa Minor. The Big Dipper and the constellation as a whole have mythological significance in numerous world cultures, usually as a symbol of the north.