The constellation of the Dragon (Dra) is very noticeable in the sky. It can be seen with the naked eye - the figure passes through Ursa Minor, the head is north of Hercules, but the body is difficult to see, since it consists of many faintly burning stars. Next to the Dragon are such constellations of the Northern sky as Ursa Minor and Ursa Major, Hercules. He was located next to Hercules for a reason: if you remember the legend, the dragon in the sky is the same serpent that lost the battle, was defeated by the hero in the garden.
In ancient times, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia were the first to see the constellation Draco. There are several mythological versions of its origin. As they say in mythology, after the secret birth of the dragon in the cave of Zev, his father, the evil and vengeful Kron, found out about the deception and decided to kill the baby. The dragon had to turn into a snake, and he also turned his nannies into bears. This is how the constellations of the starry sky appeared - Ursa Minor and Ursa Major and the Dragon. This version is confirmed by the fact that all three constellations are located in the same, polar, celestial region.
Sometimes the constellation Draco is associated with the legend of the Titanomachy. In a bloody battle, in its midst, someone threw a huge snake at the goddess Athena. Athena, grabbing the tail of the dragon, launched it with all her might into the sky, so that it flew to
celestial pole, where it freezes to the sky. And so it remained the memory of the victory of the gods over the titans! But the inhabitants of Babylon believed that the stars were protected by an evil serpent, to whom the god Mardug himself entrusted this matter. In many myths, the dragon is represented as a terrible creature that instills fear in the common people. But people also believed that he was a guard sent by the gods to protect the stars.
The constellation Draco in the sky, which has a significant area of 1083 square degrees, is of interest to astronomy lovers. English astronomer James Bradley made one of the largest discoveries related to the constellation Draco. Graduated from Oxford
university, James decided to give himself completely to science and began to work at the same university, later became a professor of astronomy. Having achieved amazing success, he eventually became the director of one of the observatories. But long before that, the astronomer was observing the constellation Draco, trying to find confirmation of the main parallactic shift, or rather to convey that the seemingly periodic movements of stars in the celestial sphere are actually caused by the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. The astronomer worked hard and discovered the displacement of the constellation, but it did not happen asI would like to go the other way. Bradley was able to give an explanation for this fact: all his observations showed that everything was caused by the orbital motion of the Earth, this was the proof.
In principle, the constellation is visible throughout Russia, you can observe it at least a whole year. It is best seen in March and May. There are many interesting groups of stars, but the constellation Draco is really mesmerizing, it is shrouded in mystery. That is why so many myths and stories have been dedicated to him.
