This picture shows two different views of the constellation, The Big Dipper. The upper image is what we see from Earth and the lower from a different location in space.
Click on image for full size
It All Depends On Your Point Of View
In most cases, however, the stars that we see that seem to be "close" to each
other actually are quite far apart, some stars are much closer or farther than others
as is shown in the example below of Ursa Major, the big dipper.
In the figure we imagine that we have travelled through space till we
are about the
same distance away as earth but from a different position in space. The stars in
Ursa Major would change as is shown in the lower part of the picture.
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