Draco (constellation):

Draco

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List of stars in Draco

Abbreviation:

Dra

Genitive:

Draconis

Symbolism:

the Dragon

Right ascension:

17 h

Declination:

+65°

Area:

1083 sq. deg. (8th)

Main stars:

Bayer/Flamsteed
stars:

Stars with
known planets:

Bright stars:

Nearby stars:

Brightest star:

Gamma Draconis (2.24^m)

Nearest star:

Struve 2398 (11.5 ly)

Messier objects:

Meteor showers:

Draconids

Bordering
constellations:

Boötes
Hercules
Lyra
Cygnus
Cepheus
Ursa Minor
Camelopardalis
Ursa Major

Visible at latitudes between +90° and −15°
Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of July

Notable features

Eltanin, the traditional name for Gamma Draconis, is the brightest star in Draco, with an apparent visual magnitude of 2.24.

One of the deep-sky objects in Draco is the Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543), a planetary nebula that is said to look like a blue disc. There are several faint galaxies in Draco, one of which is the lenticular galaxy NGC 5866, sometimes considered to be Messier Object 102. Another is the Draco Dwarf Galaxy, one of the least luminous galaxies with an absolute magnitude of -8.6 and a diameter of only about 3,500 light years, discovered by Albert G. Wilson of Lowell Observatory in 1954.

Mythology

Among the earliest of human records written, the ancient Egyptians identified this constellation as Tawaret, the goddess of the northern sky in their pantheon of deities. Considered as ever-vigilant because the constellation never set, she was depicted a fierce protective goddess whose body was a composite of crocodile, human, lioness, and hippopotamus parts.

There are a number of other myths behind the constellation. The Greeks named it Draco, due to its resemblance to a dragon [1], although alternative interpretations exist, such as the legend of the Mother Camels.

In the most famous of the myths, Draco represents Ladon, the hundred-headed dragon who guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides. The eleventh of The Twelve Labours of Heracles was to steal the golden apples. He put Ladon to sleep with music, allowing him to freely take the golden apples. According to the legend, Hera later placed the dragon in the sky as the constellation Draco. Due to its position and nearby constellations in the zodiac sign of Libra (i.e. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Boötes), the group of constellations can be seen to tell the tale of the eleventh labour.

In another Greek legend, Draco represents the dragon killed by Cadmus before founding the city of Thebes, Greece. In a third legend, it represents the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece and was killed by Jason. The fact that the stars of this circumpolar constellation never set plays an important part in its mythologies.

In Roman legend, Draco was killed by the goddess Minerva and tossed into the sky upon his defeat.