Draco

Lozenge of Draco

Draco's Head

common observer pattern · high confidence

Draco's head is a small tilted lozenge north of Hercules, with the Nu Draconis pair on one corner. It is circumpolar from 50°N and best placed on summer evenings.

Central RA: 17^h 41^m 00.0^s
Central Dec: +54° 12′ 15″
Brightest member: V 2.23
Best months from 50°N: June–September evenings
Suggested instrument: naked-eye
Approx. span: 5.7°

Finder context

Use the nearby bright stars to locate the gold box, then move to the larger chart for the pattern itself.

Framing: Approximate member-star span: 5.7°; use at least 7.9° field for context.

Observing and imaging

Naked eye

Start with the unaided eye. Suburban skies usually show the main stars.

Binoculars

Binoculars are optional: use them to check colours, nearby doubles, or richer Milky Way background.

Small scope

A telescope is usually too narrow for the whole shape; use it after the pattern has guided you to a target.

Imaging

Frame a 8° field around Draco to include the pattern and its nearby stars.

Tonight from your latitude

Set your location and date to see a useful window, peak altitude, sky visibility, and Moon conditions. Use Month to compare the season ahead.

Latitude 50°NLongitude -114°Date Month Sky darkness Bortle 4 · limit V 6.1

Naked-eye visibility by sky class

Bortle class rates night-sky brightness. The atlas counts a pattern as recognisable when at least 70% of its defining stars are visible.

Bortle 3: 5/5 stars — fully visibleBortle 5: 5/5 stars — fully visibleBortle 7: 3/5 stars — washed out

Moon impact

For 50°N in the best month, green dates mark at least two hours with the pattern above 20° and the Moon below the horizon.

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Member stars

Name	Bayer / Flamsteed	HR	RA J2000	Dec J2000	V mag
Eltanin	33Gam Dra	HR 6705	17^h 56^m 36.4^s	+51° 29′ 20″	2.23
Rastaban	23Bet Dra	HR 6536	17^h 30^m 26.0^s	+52° 18′ 05″	2.79
32Xi Dra	32Xi Dra	HR 6688	17^h 53^m 31.7^s	+56° 52′ 22″	3.75
25Nu 2Dra	25Nu 2Dra	HR 6555	17^h 32^m 16.0^s	+55° 10′ 23″	4.87
24Nu 1Dra	24Nu 1Dra	HR 6554	17^h 32^m 10.6^s	+55° 11′ 03″	4.88

Source and confidence

common observer pattern; high confidence. A commonly used constellation-part or seasonal guide pattern.

Citations

Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed.: Hoffleit, D. & Warren, W.H. Jr. (1991). Positions, V magnitudes, Bayer/Flamsteed identifiers. source
Star Tales: Ridpath, I. Constellation and asterism notes used to cross-check common sky-pattern names. source
The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues: ESA SP-1200 (1997). Used as the modern astrometric reference named by the atlas; the MVP pages expose BSC5 J2000 fields for the plotted bright-star members.