The constellation 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 located north of Hercules, but the body is difficult to see, since it consists of many faintly burning stars. Near the Dragon are such constellations of the Northern sky, such as Ursa Minor and Ursa Major, Hercules. He was located next to Hercules for a reason: if you recall the legend, the dragon in the sky is the very serpent who lost the battle, was defeated by a hero in the garden.
In ancient times, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia were the first to see the constellation Dragon. There are several mythological versions of its origin. According to 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. And so there appeared the constellations of the starry sky - Ursa Minor and Ursa Major and Dragon. This version is also confirmed by the fact that all three constellations are located in one, subpolar, celestial region.
Sometimes the Dragon constellation is associated with the legend of Titanomachia. In a bloody battle, in its midst, someone threw a huge serpent at the goddess Athena. Athena, grabbing the tail of the dragon, launched him with all his might into the sky, so that he flew to
heavenly pole, where it freezes to the sky. And so he remained the memory of the victory of the gods over the titans! But the inhabitants of Babylon believed that the evil serpent was saving the stars, to whom the god Mardug himself entrusted this business. In many myths, the dragon is represented by a terrible creature that brings fear to ordinary people. But also people believed that he was a guard sent by the gods to protect the stars.
The constellation of the Dragon in the sky, which has a significant area of 1083 square degrees, is of interest to astronomy lovers. The English astronomer James Bradley made one of the largest discoveries related to the constellation Dragon. Graduating from oxford
University, James decided to give himself completely to science and began working 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 this, the astronomer was observing the constellation of the Dragon, trying to find confirmation of the main parallactic displacement, or rather to convey that the seemingly periodic movements of stars in the celestial sphere are really caused by the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. The astronomer worked hard and discovered a shift in the constellation, but it did not happen as we would like, but in the opposite direction. Bradley was able to explain 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 Dragon constellation is truly mesmerizing, it is shrouded in mystery. That is why so many myths and stories have been devoted to him.
