Draco

Dra star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).

One of the 88 IAU constellations.

Etymology and History

The Greek constellation ...

Origin of Constellation

Greco-Roman

Eratosthenes

Var. 1 (Ὄφεως): This is the Great Serpent, the one that lies between the two Bears. It is said that this is the one who guarded the golden apples and was killed by Heracles. Hera had charged him with protecting the apples from the Hesperides, and it was she who gave him a place among the constellations. Indeed, Phecydes says that when Zeus married Hera, during the presentation of gifts given to him by the gods, Gaia, The Earth, came to offer her the golden apples. At the sight of them, Hera was dazzled and asked for them to be planted in the orchard of the gods next to Atlas. And as the daughters of Atlas were constantly stealing the apples, she appointed this gigantic snake as guardian. It is easy to see; above it is the figure of Heracles, for Zeus wanted to use this arrangement to flagrantly the memory of the struggle. He has three bright stars on his head and twelve stars on his body, which follow each other at close intervals to the tail and separate the two Bears48. <All in all, fifteen.>

Var. 2 (Ὄφεως): This is the Great Serpent, the one that stretches between the two Bears. It is said that this is the one who guarded the golden apples and who died at the hands of Heracles. Hera had charged him with protecting the orchards and the golden apples against the Hesperides, and it was she who gave him a place among the constellations. In fact, Phecydes that on the occasion of the wedding of Zeus and Hera, during the gifts given by the gods, Gaia, The Earth, came to offer golden apples on their branches. At the sight of them, Hera was dazzled and asked for them to be planted in the orchard of the gods next to Atlas. And as the daughters of Atlas were constantly stealing apples, she appointed this gigantic snake as guardian. It has three bright stars at the tip of its head and twelve stars on the body, which follow each other at close to the tail, separating the two bears.

(Pamias and Zucker 2013)

Almagest Δράκων.

id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
	Δράκουτος ἀστερισμός.	Constellation of Draco
1	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς γλώσσης.	The star on the tongue	mu Dra
2	ὁ ἐεν τῷ στόματι.	The star in the mouth	nu Dra
3	ὁ ἐπάνω τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ.	The· star above the eve	bet Dra
4	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς χένυος.	The star on the jaw	xi Dra
5	ὁ ἐπάνω τῆς κεφαλῆς.	The star above the head	gam Dra
6	τῶν ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ καμπῇ τοῦ τραχήλου ἐπ’ εὐθείας γ’ ὁ βόΘε0ς	The northernmost of the 3 stars in a straight line in the first bend of the neck	39 Dra
	ὁ ψότιος αὐτῶν	The southernmost of these	46 Dra
	ὁ μέσος αὐτῶν.	The middle one	45 Dra
	ὁ τούτῳ ἑπόμενος ἀπ’ ἀνατολῆς,	The star to the rear and due east of the latter	omi Dra
	τοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐξῆς ἐπιστροφῇ τετραπλεύρου τῆς προηγουμένης πλευρᾶς ὁ νότιος	The southern star of the [two] forming the advance side of the quadrilateral in the next bend	pi Dra
	ὁ βορειότερος τῆς ἠγουμένης πλευρᾶς.	The more northerly star of the advance side	del Dra
	τῆς ἐπομένης πλευρᾶς ὁ βόρειος.	The northern star of the re!lr side [of the quadrilateral]	eps Dra
	ὁ φότιος τῆς ἐπομένης πλευρᾶς.	The southern star of the rear side	rho Dra
	τοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐφεξῆς καμπῇ τριγώνου ὁ νότιος.	The southern star of [those forming] the triangle in the next bend	sig Dra
	τῶν λοιπῶν τοῦ τριγώνου β ὁ προηγούμενος.	The more advanced of the other two stars of the triangle	ups Dra
	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν.	The one to the rear	tau Dra
	τῶν ἐν τῷ ἐξῆς καὶ προηγουμένῳ τριγώνῳ ἡ ὁ ἑπόμενος,	The most advanced of the three stars in the next triangle, which is in advance [ of the last]	psi Dra
	τῶν λοιπῶν τοῦ τριγώνου β’ ὁ νότιος.	The southernmost of the other two forming the triangle	chi Dra
	ὁ βορειότερος τῶν λοιπῶν δύο	The northernmost of the other two	phi Dra
	τῶν πρὸς δύσιο τοῦ τριγώνου β μικρῶν ὁ ἐπόμευος.	The rearmost of the two small stars to the west of the triangle	27 Dra
	ὁ ἠγούμενος αὐτῶν	The one in advance	omega Dra
	τῶν ἐξῆς ἐπ’ εὐθείας γ’ ὁ νοτιώτερος	The southernmost of the riext 3 stars in a straight line	18 Dra
	ὁ μέσος τῶν τριῶν.	The middle one of the three	19 Dra
	ὁ βορειότερος αὐτῶν.	The northernmost of them	zet Dra
	τῶν ἐξῆς πρὸς δυσμὰς β’ ὁ βορειότερος.	The riorthernmost of the next 2 to the west	eta Dra
	ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν.	The southernmost of these	tet Dra
	ὁ τούτωυ πρὸς δυσμὰς ἐν τῇ παρούρῳ ἐπιστροφῇ	The star to the west· of these, in the bend by the tail	iot Dra
	τῶν τούτου ἱκανὸν διεστώτων β’ ὁ προηγούμενος	The advance star of the 2 quite some distance from the latter	10 Dra
	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν.	The rear star.of these (two)	alf Dra
	ὁ τούτων ἐχόμενος παρὰ τὴν οὐράν	The star close by these, by the tail	kap Dra
	ὁ λοιπὸς καὶ ἐπ’ ἄκρας τῆς οὐρᾶς	The remaining star, on the tip of the tail	lam Dra
	ἀστέρες λα, ὥν ν μεγέθους ἢ, δ’ ἰς, εε, ς’ β, ὁμοῦ λα	31 stars, 8 of the third magnitude, 16 of the fourth, 5 of the fifth,2 of the sixth

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)