Draco (constellation)

Draco is a constellation in the far northern sky. Its name is Latin for dragon, and it has been recognized as a pattern of stars for thousands of years. Draco was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century Greek astronomer Ptolemy and is still one of the 88 modern constellations today. Because it is located near the north celestial pole, Draco is circumpolar from northern latitudes, which means it can be seen all year long and never really disappears below the horizon. The north pole of the ecliptic is also found within this constellation, making Draco an important part of our night sky.

Features

Main article: List of stars in Draco

Draco, the dragon, is a constellation in the northern sky. One important star in Draco is Thuban (α Draconis), which was the north pole star from 3942 BC until 1793 BC. Because of Earth's wobble, called precession, Thuban will become the pole star again around the year AD 21000. Thuban is a blue-white giant star 309 light-years from Earth.

Other notable stars in Draco include Gamma Draconis, an orange giant star, and Beta Draconis, a yellow giant star. Draco also contains many double stars and binary stars, which are pairs or groups of stars that orbit each other.

Draco is home to some interesting deep-sky objects, such as the Cat's Eye Nebula, a planetary nebula discovered in 1786. The constellation also includes faint galaxies, interacting galaxies, and galaxy clusters. One famous interacting galaxy is Arp 188, also called the Tadpole Galaxy, which has a long tail of stars.

Draco is associated with two meteor showers. The October Draconids peak on October 8 and can sometimes produce many meteors in a hour. The February Eta Draconids was discovered in 2011.

Mythology

Draco, meaning "dragon" in Latin, is one of the 48 constellations listed by the ancient astronomer Ptolemy in his work the Almagest. In Greek stories, Draco was seen as different dragons. One tale says it was a giant dragon defeated by the goddess Athena, who then placed it in the sky. Another story links Draco to Ladon, the dragon that guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides. The hero Heracles defeated Ladon, and it was turned into a constellation.

In Arabic stories, Draco was not seen as a dragon but as mother camels protecting a baby camel from hyenas. Even so, Arabic astronomers also used the Greek name for Draco, calling it At-Tinnin, meaning "the dragon."

Namesakes

The constellation Draco inspired several names. The United States Navy had a ship called Draco, a type of cargo ship known as a Crater class cargo ship. In the 1996 movie Dragonheart, the main character’s name comes from Draco, and the story includes a magical place for dragons called Draco.

The famous chess move called the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense was named after the constellation by a Russian chess master, Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky. Even in the Harry Potter books, a character named Draco Malfoy gets his name from this starry dragon.