Draco
Draco, the great dragon coiling around the celestial pole. Here are Thuban, the pole star of 5,000 years ago, and the dragon that guarded the golden apples.
Science
The scienceDraco is a vast constellation that coils in a long winding path around the celestial pole, snaking between Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The star Thuban, in its tail, was the "pole star" of ancient Egypt some 5,000 years ago; the Great Pyramid of Giza has a shaft aimed precisely at Thuban as it stood then. As the precession of Earth's axis shifted the pole, it has since yielded that place to Polaris. The two bright stars forming the dragon's head, Eltanin and Rastaban, are called the "eyes of the dragon."
Mythology
How it became a constellationDraco is said to be Ladon, the dragon that appears in Heracles' eleventh labor. Ladon was the sleepless dragon that guarded the "golden apples," the treasure of the gods, in the garden of the Hesperides. When Heracles slew the dragon to win the apples, the goddess Hera, who had cherished it, took pity and raised it into the sky as a constellation. That is why, right beside Draco, Hercules kneels on one knee with his foot pressing down on the dragon's head.
Observing Guide
how to observe🔭 How to find it
Draco is a long constellation that winds between the Great Bear and the Little Bear, and the easiest part to find first is the dragon's head. On a summer night, look near the zenith close to the brilliant star Vega, and you'll spot the roughly rectangular head of the dragon (with stars like Eltanin and Rastaban). From there, follow the long body of fainter stars as it curls around the Big Dipper's bowl and snakes toward the Little Bear.
✨ What to look for
Draco's headline sight is the "Cat's Eye Nebula," NGC 6543 — a bright, bluish planetary nebula puffed out by a dying star, which even a small telescope shows as a disk distinct from a point of starlight. Beyond that, there's the lens-shaped (lenticular) galaxy NGC 5866, seen edge-on as a thin silver sliver (often called M102), plus interacting galaxies such as the "Tadpole Galaxy" (NGC 3860 region), where two galaxies collide and stretch out a long tail — giving plenty of variety for galaxy hunting.
📍 Where to see it (US · Canada · UK · Australia)
With its stars spread across high northern declinations, Draco is circumpolar from Canada and the UK — and effectively so from the northern US — so it never sets and is on view all year, climbing highest overhead on summer nights (May–September). Because its stars are faint, the winding body is far easier to trace from a dark site than beneath city lights. From Australia the Dragon stays below the horizon and cannot be seen.