Draco

Draco (abbreviation: Dra), the Dragon, is a large constellation that coils around the north celestial pole, appearing to encircle Ursa Minor, and is one of the few star patterns to somewhat resemble the object after which it is named. The four stars forming the dragons head – Beta, Gamma, Xi, and Nu Dra – make up a conspicuous asterism known as the Lozenge.

Among Draco's interesting deep-sky objects are the Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543), the Draco Dwarf, and 3C 351, a quasar lying at a distance of about 7 billion light-years (magnitude 15.3; RA 17h, Dec +60°). See below for details of the constellation's brightest stars.

Draco Dwarf

Draco Dwarf. Image credit: Mischa Schirmer.

The Draco Dwarf is a dwarf elliptical galaxy that orbits the Milky Way at a distance of about 250,000 light-years from the galactic center. It is the least luminous galaxy known, with an absolute magnitude of –8.6 and a diameter of only about 3,500 light-years. It was discovered in 1954 at the same time as another Milky Way satellite, the Ursa Minor Dwarf.

Stars brighter than magnitude 4.0
star	vis mag	abs mag	spec type	distance (ly)	RA (h m s)	Dec (° ' ")
Gamma (Eltanin)	2.24	-1.04	K5III	148	17 56 36	+51 29 20
Eta (Aldhibain)	2.73	-6.27	G8IIIab	2,050	16 23 59	+61 30 50
Beta (Rastaban)	2.79	-2.44	G2Ib-IIa	361	17 30 26	+52 18 05
Delta (Taïs)	3.07	0.63	G9III	100	19 12 33	+67 39 41
Zeta (Aldhibah)	3.17	-1.90	B6III	320	17 08 47	+65 42 53
Iota (Edasich)	3.29	-1.92	B6III	339	15 24 56	+58 57 58
Chi	3.55	4.01	F7V	26	18 21 03	+72 43 58
Alpha (Thuban)	3.67	-1.21	A0III	308	14 04 23	+64 22 33
Xi (Juza)	3.73	1.06	K2III	111	17 53 32	+56 52 21
Epsilon (Tyl)	3.84	0.59	G8IIIbCN	146	19 48 10	+70 16 04
Lambda (Giausar)	3.82	-1.24	M0IIICa	334	11 31 24	+69 19 52
Kappa	3.85	-2.07	B6IIIpe	498	12 33 29	+69 47 17