Amelia, the Merballs and the Emerald Cannon by Evonne Blanchard

My favorite stargazing app is the Sky Safari app. You can either use a sky chart (downloadable on the internet) or an app. The best time to view this constellations is in July, at around 9pm, (latitudes +90 degrees and -15 degrees). It’s located between Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, so it’s easy to spot on a clear night. Athena then grabbed Draco’s tail and threw him up into the night sky as a constellation, whereupon he became wrapped around the North Pole.ĭraco, unusually for constellations, looks exactly like a snake and literally slithers its’ way across the northern sky. Titans -and assorted monsters- war!!! You know the one which makes World War I seems like a tea party in comparison.

And there is an even older myth where Athena, Greek Goddess of Wisdom, defeated Draco during the great, all out world bashing Olympians vs. In other myths, Draco is the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece. The fallen snake- dragon was afterwards set up in the night sky, with its’ head lying at the foot of Hercules. Hercules had to kill Ladon in order to get the apples.

One of the twelve labors of Hercules, (Heracles to the Greeks) was to steal the golden apples. The Draco constellation is one of the easiest to see in the northern night sky.Īnd this constellation, like so many, has a great Greek story behind it! The most famous one begins in the garden of Hesperides, where the prized golden apples were guarded by the dragon-snake Ladon.

Yes, we’re talking about you Malfoy, (Harry Potter nerd here)! Although it does also mean dragon or enormous serpent in Latin.

Amelia, the Merballs and the Emerald Cannon by Evonne Blanchard