Ursa Minor is popularly known as The Little Dipper because its seven brightest stars seem to form the shape of a dipper (ladle or scoop). The star at the end of the dipper handle is Polaris, the North Star.

Polaris, the brightest star in the constellation, is a yellow supergiant shining at 2.02 apparent magnitude . It belongs to the rare class of Cepheid variable stars.

The four stars in the bowl of the little dipper are unusual in that they are of second, third, fourth and fifth magnitude, providing a guide to determining what magnitude stars are visible - useful for city dwellers or testing your eyesight. The numbered stars are:
1. Polaris - magnitude 2.02
2. Kochab - magnitude 2.07
3. Pherkad - magnitude 3.00
4. Urodelus - magnitude 4.21
5. Alifa al Farkadain - magnitude 4.32
6. Yildun - magnitude 4.85
7. Anwar al Farkadai - magnitude 4.95