Callisto was a huntress in the company of Artemis, sworn to the forest. Zeus loved her, and when their son Arcas was born, jealous Hera turned Callisto into a bear so that no one would look at her kindly again.
For years she wandered the woods, a woman's mind trapped behind a bear's face. One day she saw Arcas, grown and carrying a spear, and ran to him. He saw only a bear charging, and raised his weapon.
Zeus caught the moment before it ended. He seized both mother and son by their tails, stretched them long, and swung them into the sky, where they still circle the pole and never sink into the sea.
Those stretched tails are why the Big Dipper's handle is far longer than any real bear's.
Point a telescope here for M40 (Winnecke 4), M81 (Bode's Galaxy), M82 (Cigar Galaxy), M97 (Owl Nebula), M101 (Messier 101), M108 (Messier 108), M109 (Messier 109).