Draco

Abbreviation:  Dra
English Name:  The Dragon
Genitive: Thuban
Hemisphere:  Northern Hemisphere
Location: Between the constellations of Lyra and Ursa Minor.
Visible between latitudes:  +90 and -15 degrees
Best season: Summer
Seen in three seasons: Spring, Summer and Autumn
Best seen in:  Early July
Seen between: Circumpolar (This constellation of Camelopardalis stays in the Sky all the year.)
Right Ascension (RA):  17 hour
Declination (DEC):  +65 degrees
Area (square degrees):  1,083 (8th)

Draco (The Dragon)

• Long rambling northern constellation representing the dragon slewing by Ursa Major and Hercules, with the Dragon’s head near the star, Vega.
• Some 5,000 years ago, the brightest star; Alpha Thuban, was the North Pole Star in ancient times, today our North Pole Star is now Polaris, also known as The North Star.

Messier Objects

• No Messier Objects in Draco.

Features of Interest

• NGC 6543 – Cat’s Eye Nebula; very bright, fairly small oval, blue-green colour, also related to IC 4677; part of halo of NGC 6543.

Named Stars

• Thuban (Alpha Dra)
• Rastaban (Beta Dra)
• ETAMIN (Gamma Dra)
• Nodus Secundus (Delta Dra)
• Tyl (Epsilon Dra)
• Aldhibah (Zeta Dra)
• Ed Asich (Iota Dra)
• Gianfar (Lambda Dra)
• Arrakis (Mu Dra)
• Kuma (Nu 2 Dra)
• Grumium (Xi Dra)
• Alsafi (Sigma Dra)
• Dsiban (Psi 1 Dra)

Others

• Photo of the constellation; Draco, as it appears to the naked eye. (Lines have been added for clarity.)
• Sky Chart  –  Draco
• List of stars in Dorado.

 

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