DRACO

BACKGROUND

• Draco means "Dragon" in Latin
• It is only present or visible in the Northern Hemisphere

HOW TO FIND

• It is easiest to find the constellation Draco by first finding four stars in the shape of a trapezoid, of the "dragons head". This makes up "The Lozenge" and consists of the stars Beta, Gamma, Xi, and Nu Dra.
• The brightest star in the constellation is Gamma Draconis or Etamin, Eltanin, or Ettanin
• Gianfar is the name of the star at the end of the "dragons tail"

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• Many are able to locate the Big and Little Dipper, and Draco's "tail" ends between these two constellations

WHEN AND WHERE TO VEIW

• Draco can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -15°
• This constellation is easiest to view during the summer, specifically during July around 9pm

MYTH/ STORY

• Associated with several myths
• (Main) The twelve labours of Heracles
• Draco represent Ladon, the dragon that guarded the golden in the gardens of the Hesperides

DEEP SKY OBJECTS IN DRACO

• CAT'S EYE NEBULA
• Approximately 3300 light years distant from Earth
• One of the most complex nebulae ever discovered
• Formed about a thousand years ago, when a bright hot star lost its outer envelope in the red giant phase.

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• DRACO DWARF GALAXY
• Is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, one of the faintest ones.
• Discovered by the American astronomer Albert George Wilson in 1954
• Contains five carbon stars

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• SPINDLE GALAXY
• Discovered in 1781 by either Pierre Méchain or Charles Messier, and then independently discovered by William Herschel in 1788.
• It is one of the brightest galaxies in the NGC 5866 group
• Notable for its extended disk of dust