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Ancient lore contains many tales of dragons, and more than one has been associated with the constellation Draco. The most familiar myth involves the eleventh labour of Hercules, in which he was ordered by the gods to steal the golden apples from the garden of the Hersperides, which were guarded by a dragon. Naturally, the dragon had to be disposed of to obtain the apples, and its form was placed in the sky to commemorate the feat. The illustration below is from the pages of John Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis, published in 1753.
Draco is one of the circumpolar constellations that never sets for viewers in the northern hemisphere. It is condemned to circle the north star, Polaris, - tail first - for eternity.
Thuban is the alpha star in Draco, but unlike most constellations, it did not earn its alpha designation because it is the brightest star. Thuban is, in fact, only the seventh brightest star in the constellation. The reason it is the alpha star is because of its historical significance. Due to the precession of Earth's axis, which slowly but surely shifts the positions of the stars over time, 4800 years ago Thuban was our North Star (the position now occupied by Polaris).
And 4800 years ago was when the great Egyptian pyramid of Khufu, at Gizeh was built. From the King's Chamber, where the Pharoh Khufu was entombed, two very small shafts lead from the tomb to opposite sides of the pyramid. Initially thought to be air shafts, astronomers are now thinking these shafts were directed towards specific stars, that were to be aids in the Pharoh's journey to the afterlife. One shaft appears to point directly where Thuban (the north star) would have been at the time, and the other shaft appears to point to Orion's belt, which was associated with all important goddess Isis. Although this theory is still the subject of debate among some astronomers, it is widely accepted by most.
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