Hydra, the sea serpent:
Hydra is the largest and the longest constellation in the night
sky. The stars that make up Hydra represent the sea serpent that
Hercules was forced to defeat as one of his Twelve Labors. Hydra
had nine heads, one of which was immortal. Whenever he cut off one
head, two would grow back in its place. He solved this problem by
burning the stump of each head that he cut off, thereby stopping
the new ones from growing. He then defeated the immortal head by
burying it under stones were it could not harm anyone. The constellation
of Hydra contains only one bright star Alphard, known as the "Solitary
One", since it is the only bright star in that part of the
sky. The constellation can be found to the south of Leo, the lion.
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