Thursday, February 9, 2012

Does anyone know what is the best date to find the draco constellation and what time & season?

i can't find it in any websites T_TDoes anyone know what is the best date to find the draco constellation and what time %26amp; season?Draco is a summer constellation, and it's right up directly overhead in the sky, unless you live fairly far north in which case look south a bit. It's really a very big constellation and pretty easy to pick out. The head faces (more or less) north, while the tail winds towards the south. Good luck finding it, it's very beautiful.Does anyone know what is the best date to find the draco constellation and what time %26amp; season?If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, you should be able to se it any night. It weaves between the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. The Head meanders toward Vega, so it is easier to see in Summer.Does anyone know what is the best date to find the draco constellation and what time %26amp; season?Draco is a circumpolar constellation, which means that if you are North of about 20 defgrees North Latitude you can see it on any evening when the sky is clear.



It weaves thru the northern sky around Ursa Major. with the 'head' of the dragon facing the celestial pole (Polaris).Does anyone know what is the best date to find the draco constellation and what time %26amp; season?
draco is one of the most northerly constellations. if you live at 40掳 N latitude or farther north, none of its key stars will ever set below your horizon, therefore it will be visible every night of the year - unless it's cloudy, of course! during march, it can be found due north and rather low in the sky



(i'm assuming you're out viewing between sunset and about 11 pm)

to find draco, first locate the big dipper, which should be upside-down, high above your head. the two stars marking the side of the big dipper's bowl away from the handle (mirak and dubhe) point down to polaris, the north pole star, which is the end of the little dipper's handle, the little dipper curves to the right (east) and upwards towards the big dipper's handle



draco's tail is represented by the three moderately bright stars positioned between the two dippers. from there, the body describes a figure 2, running down and to the left, "under" the little dipper's bowl, then veering a little more sharply downward again. at the end of the figure 2 you should find a small trapezoid or kite shape of stars, which marks the dragon's head



if you live around 30掳 N latitude, the base of the figure 2 will be right on the horizon, and if you're farther north than that, subtract 30 from your latitude, and that's about how high in the sky draco's head will appear



the brightest star in draco's head is etamin, the next brightest rastaban. the star that lies between the little dipper's bowl and the middle star of the big dipper's handle is thuban, which is significant because it was the pole star at the time the ancient egyptians built the great pyramids, and will be the pole star again sometime around the year 23000, give or take a century. because of this, thuban is designated draco's alpha star, an honour usually reserved for the brightest star in a constellation

No comments:

Post a Comment