Starwatch: look for the dragon whose body was flung into the sky

Starwatch 24 June 2019 Constellation Draco

Another fainter constellation that rides high in the summer sky for northern observers is Draco, the dragon. Like so many of the northern constellations, it is one of the original 48 star patterns listed by astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. In myth, Draco was killed by the goddess Minerva, who then threw the body away into the sky. The constellation’s meandering shape is said to be because the body twisted as it was flung into the heavens. The two most obvious stars of the constellation are Rastaban and Eltanin in the head of the dragon. The chart shows the view at midnight BST on 25 June. The easiest way to find the head of the dragon is to locate the bright white star of Vega in the constellation Lyra. It will lie in the south-east. Look upwards and slightly east, and Rastaban and Eltanin should stand out as the brightest pair of stars in an otherwise undistinguished star field. Then see if you can trace the sinuous body of even fainter stars.