English name | Dragon | ||||
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Major stars | beta Draconis | Rastaban | magn. 3,0 | RA: 17h 30m 25.96s | Dec: +52° 18' 05.0" |
gamma Draconis | Eltanin | magn. 2,4 | RA: 17h 56m 36.38s | Dec: +51° 29' 20.3" | |
delta Draconis | Altais | magn. 3,2 | RA: 19h 12m 33.25s | Dec: +67° 39' 41.4" | |
zeta Draconis | magn. 3,2 | RA: 17h 08m 47.23s | Dec: +65° 42' 52.7" | ||
eta Draconis | magn. 2,9 | RA: 16h 23m 59.49s | Dec: +61° 30' 51.1" | ||
iota Draconis | Edasich | magn. 3,5 | RA: 15h 24m 55.76s | Dec: +58° 57' 57.7" | |
Description | Big circumpolar constellation, Draco stretches between Cepheus and Hercules, and then it passes between Ursa Maior and Ursa Minor. Even though it is the eighth constellation in order of dimensions, it doesn't contain any particularly bright stars. Interesting are only some double stars: ny Draconis, formed by two white stars of fifth magnitude; omicron Draconis, a yellow giant accompanied by a blue star; and xi Draconis, a couple of yellow stars. With modest telescopes, then, it is possible to observe a beautiful planetary nebula, NGC 6543, callad Cat's Eye Nebula because of its similarity with a feline eye: seen with small instruments it appears as a bluish, slightly out-of-focus disk, while all its beauty appears in the long-exposured photos. |
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Mythology and history | The constellation represents the snake Ladon, which Hera, Zeus' wife, put to keep guard over her golden apples in the Hesperides garden. It was killed by Hercules during his eleventh labour. |