Constellations are memorable maps to the stars, dating back many thousands of years.

Many of the constellations are associated with the Gods and Godesses of ancient Greek mythology.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has divided the sky into 88 official constellations with exact boundaries, so that every direction or location in the sky belongs to one constellation. Astronomers use this as a rough guideline for location objects, e.g. when they say that Mars is in the constellation of Gemini, it can be found within the borders of the constellation. The constellations that the Sun pass through each year are known as the Zodiac.

Draco

The Dragon

The star Thuban (α Draconis) was the northern pole star around 2700 BC, during the time of the ancient Egyptians. Due to the effects of precession, it will once again be the pole star around the year 21,000 AD.

Draco Mythology

In the most famous of the myths, Draco represents Ladon, the hundred-headed dragon that guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides. The eleventh of The Twelve Labours of Heracles was to steal the golden apples. Herakles killed Ladon with a poisoned arrow, allowing him to freely take the golden apples.

Further Information

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 the missing Messier Object 102.

Draco Photographs

Sorry, I have no photographs of this constellation yet.