How does this "dragon" fly into the sky?, On the Dragon Boat Festival night, you can enjoy the "Flying Dragon in the Sky" Dragon Boat Festival | Black Dragon | Flying Up
Nanjing, June 20th (Xinhua) - Astronomical and popular science experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported that around 7:30 pm on the evening of the Dragon Boat Festival on the 22nd, the "dragon head" corner constellation of the Canglong Seven Mansions will rise to the south central sky. By around 10 pm, the entire "dragon shape" of the Canglong will stretch across the night sky, allowing the public to observe the "flying dragon in the sky" celestial phenomenon. What is this flying dragon soaring in the sky? How did "Flying Dragon" fly into the sky?
Wang Kechao, the science popularization director of the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced that ancient Chinese people divided the stars in the equator and ecliptic into 28 star groups to observe celestial phenomena, known as the Twenty Eight Constellations. In the twenty-eight constellations, every seven constellations form a group: in the east is the Canglong, in the south is the Vermilion Bird, in the west is the White Tiger, and in the north is the Xuanwu. The Eastern Canglong includes seven constellations: horn, Kang, Di, Fang, Heart, Tail, and Ji. These seven constellations represent different parts of the dragon and together outline a complete "dragon shaped" star image.
![How does this "dragon" fly into the sky?, On the Dragon Boat Festival night, you can enjoy the "Flying Dragon in the Sky" Dragon Boat Festival | Black Dragon | Flying Up](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/ca8beccc0f481ca5124f2e03367ccb6e.jpg)
This year's Dragon Boat Festival is approaching the summer solstice. Around 2pm, the "dragon head" Jiaoxiu will rise from the horizon and slowly move towards the south direction of the night sky. By around 22:00, the entire dragon will stretch across the night sky. Subsequently, the "dragon shaped" gradually set westward and sank below the horizon. "This year's Dragon Boat Festival is 19 days later than last year. Observing around 8 pm, you can see that the horns of the dragon head have slightly shifted to the west, but in previous years, it may not have reached due south by this time." Wang Kechao said.
The "appearance" period of the Canglong Seven Mansions is equivalent to the length of the Gregorian calendar year and closely related to the four seasons. During the spring plowing season, the "dragon head" Jiaoxiu first appeared from the eastern horizon after dark, commonly known as the "dragon head". Subsequently, the time when the Canglong Seven Mansions rose was getting earlier and earlier, and more and more parts exposed to the ground after dark. In midsummer, the entire green dragon rises to the center of the southern night sky, which is called "Flying Dragon in the Sky". Before and after the autumn harvest, the dragon gradually falls from the western night sky, and by the time it hides in winter, it disappears below the northern horizon.
![How does this "dragon" fly into the sky?, On the Dragon Boat Festival night, you can enjoy the "Flying Dragon in the Sky" Dragon Boat Festival | Black Dragon | Flying Up](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/87d835bba401547e284be0b8125a0e07.jpg)
Wang Kechao introduced that ancient Chinese people recorded the celestial phenomenon of "flying dragons in the sky" during the Dragon Boat Festival, but in reality, "flying dragons in the sky" not only appeared in the night sky of the Dragon Boat Festival. The size of the Oriental Canglong is very large, spanning about 90 degrees, and its position in the night sky will also change over time. During the three months before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, the public can see the entire dragon appearing in different positions in the night sky.
"For the same star, the ancestors of the East and the West had different names and imaginations, which also reflects the distinct cultural and regional characteristics of different civilizations." Wang Kechao introduced that according to the current international constellation, the seven constellations of Canglong are distributed in Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. Among them, Jiaosu and Kangsu are located in Virgo, Disu is located in Libra, Fangsu, Xinsu, and Ousu are located in Scorpio, and Jisu is located in Sagittarius.
![How does this "dragon" fly into the sky?, On the Dragon Boat Festival night, you can enjoy the "Flying Dragon in the Sky" Dragon Boat Festival | Black Dragon | Flying Up](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/f9abcc645d37c16ea38fe3236da3161b.jpg)