Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 24th.  The sun will rise at 7:32.  It’ll be up for 12 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 7:35.   The moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:40 this evening.

High in the northern sky at 9 p.m. lies a twisted constellation, that of Draco the dragon.  This dragon is more like the snakelike Chinese dragon than the dinosaur like dragon of European legend.  At least that’s how I see it.  I find it better to start at the tail of Draco, to trace him out in the stars.  Draco’s tail starts between the bowl of the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.  The Dragon is seen in a line of stars that extends parallel to the handle of the Big Dipper before curving around the bowl of the Little Dipper to the east then bends back toward the west.  The head of Draco is an odd box of stars near the bright star Vega, nearly overhead.  Though not made up of very bright stars, Draco has an easy shape to trace.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Draco and neighboring constellations at 9 .m. September 24, 2013. Created using Stellarium. Constellation art by Johan Meuris.