Constellation, Dragon
Draco
The dragon, winding between the two bears around the north pole of the sky. Its star Thuban was the pole star around 2800 BC.
From New York, Draco never sets: it circles the pole and is highest at 4:45 PM on October 13, 2026, 63° above the horizon in the N.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Draco. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
In the usual Greek story, the dragon is Ladon, the serpent that Hera set to guard the tree of golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides. Heracles killed it with his poisoned arrows during his labours, and Hera placed it in the sky. Star maps show one foot of Hercules planted on the dragon’s head. Bedouin Arabs saw the four stars of the head as mother camels with a baby camel between them.
Because Earth’s axis slowly wobbles, the pole star changes over thousands of years. Around 2800 BC Thuban lay closer to the pole than Polaris does today. Eltanin, the brightest star, comes from the Arabic for the serpent. James Bradley’s observations of Eltanin led to the discovery of the aberration of light, announced in 1728. It was the first observational proof that Earth orbits the Sun.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Draco
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eltanin | γ Dra | 2.24 | 154 light-years |
| Athebyne | η Dra | 2.73 | 92 light-years |
| Rastaban | β Dra | 2.79 | 380 light-years |
| Altais | δ Dra | 3.07 | 97 light-years |
| Aldhibah | ζ Dra | 3.17 | 329 light-years |
| Edasich | ι Dra | 3.29 | 101 light-years |
| χ Dra | χ Dra | 3.55 | 26 light-years |
| Thuban | α Dra | 3.67 | 303 light-years |
| Grumium | ξ Dra | 3.73 | 113 light-years |
| Giausar | λ Dra | 3.82 | 333 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 1,084 square degrees (8 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Dra |
| Sky | Northern sky |
| Origin | Listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150, from older Greek tradition |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 40 |
| Centre (J2000) | 17.3 h, 67° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
No deep-sky object brighter than magnitude 9.
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.