Cygnus Constellation - Facts About Cygnus | Solarsystemquick.com Cygnus Constellation The area highlighted in yellow is the asterism known as The Northern Cross. Cygnus Constellation Facts Cygnus is one the most easily recognizable and brightest constellations in the night sky. The constellation is prominent in the Northern hemisphere but can also be viewed in the Southern hemisphere. In the Northern hemisphere the constellation can be seen from June to December. In the Southern hemisphere Cygnus can be viewed low on the northern horizon in the winter months. The super-giant Deneb is the brightest star in the constellation. The Northern Cross asterism is a prominent feature of the constellation. Deneb also features in the Summer Triangle, a bright asterism formed with the stars Vega and Altair. The North America Nebula is located within the boundaries of the constellation and can be viewed with the naked eye in some areas. Many exoplanets have been discovered within the boundaries of Cygnus, amongst these is the planet Kepler-22b which may possibly enjoy Earth like conditions. Cygnus is the Latin word for swan. Cygnus Mythology The constellation is a mythological representation of the swan.

There are several different stories associated with the Cygnus constellation. One story involves the Greek mythological character of Leda who was the Queen of Sparta. As with many ancient Greek myths the amorous advances of the King of Gods Zeus plays a major part in the story. Zeus would often disguise himself as an animal in order to win favour or trick the objects of his affections and this story is no different. This time his eye was drawn to Leda and he took his chance when one day when she was attacked by an eagle, Zeus disguised himself as a swan and took the queen under his wings. Leda later produced two eggs, with a set of twins being born from each, from each egg one sibling was fathered by Zeus, the other by the King of Sparta. From one egg the brothers Castor and Pollux emerged and from the other the twin sisters Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra were born. To celebrate the births Zeus placed the swan amongst the stars. Main Stars in the Cygnus Constellation The number next to each star is its apparent magnitude, its brightness from our point of view on Earth, the lower the number the brighter the star in the night sky.

Deneb Also known as Alpha Cygni, Deneb lies around 2,500 light years from Earth and is the brightest star in the constellation, this huge star is a blue-white supergiant around 200 times larger in diameter than the sun and is estimated to be around 200,000 times more luminous. Deneb is one of the stars that forms the Summer Triangle, a bright asterism formed with Vega and Altair. Rukh Also known as Delta Cygni, Rukh appears as a single star from Earth but is actually a triple star system consisting of a bluish-white giant, along with a yellow-white and orange main sequence stars, the system lies 170 light years from Earth.

Sadr Also known as Gamma Cygni, Sadr is a very distant star located at a distance of between 1,500 and 2,000 light years from Earth, the star is a bright yellow-white supergiant with a radius 150 times that of the sun, Gienah Also known as Epsilon Cygni, Gienah is an orange giant star 170 light years from Earth, it has around twice the mass of the sun and is around 11 times larger in diameter. Albireo Also known as Beta Cygni, Albeiro is a double star located around 430 light years from Earth, double stars are two stars that appear close to each other from Earth but may actually be separated by a large distance, the larger of the two stars is an orange giant with a radius around 70 times that of the sun. Finding Cygnus - Northern Hemisphere The chart shows the position of Cygnus over most of the United States in late-summer at 10 pm. This chart can also be applied to other areas of the Northern hemisphere such as Canada, the UK and Europe.

In June and July Cygnus will be visible in the north-eastern sky from around 10 pm, by 2 am the constellation will be directly overhead and will stay high in the sky until day break. From August to September the constellation will appear high in the eastern sky from around 9 pm, staying high in the sky for several hours before heading towards the north-western horizon. From October to November Cygnus will appear overhead from around 7 pm before gradually dipping towards the north-western horizon over the next few hours. In December and January it will be visible high in the western sky from around 6 pm before disappearing below the horizon before 10 pm. Finding Cygnus - Southern Hemisphere The chart on the left shows the position of Cygnus over most of Australia in early-spring at 8 pm. This chart can also be applied to other areas of the Southern hemisphere such as New Zealand, South Africa and South America. In July and August Cygnus will be visible low in the north-eastern sky from around 9 to 10 pm, staying low on the horizon and moving westwards throughout the night.

From September to October the constellation will appear low on the north-eastern horizon from around 7 pm before disappearing below the north-western horizon around midnight. Share this page Cygnus Constellation on Top Astronomer Cygnus Please hover over any star to get more information Cygnus is one if the most familiar constellations in the northern hemisphere. Its name derives from the Greek word for "swan." The constellation was originally listed by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. It is shown as a long-necked bird with its wings spread wide. The constellation Cygnus is associated with several different myths. Orpheus, the musician and poet, was said to have been transformed into a swan after his death at the hands of the Maenads and placed in the sky next to his lyre, represented by the constellation Lyra . In another tale, Zeus transformed himself into a swan to seduce Leda, wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta, who later gave birth to Castor, Pollux, Helen (of Troy) and Clytemnestra.

The Chinese identify the constellation with Que Qiao, the "magpie bridge" that connects the lovers Niu Lang ("the cowherd") and Zhi Nu ("the weaver girl") once a year. It is said that the Goddess of Heaven found out that the two were married and separated them because Zhi Nu, a fairy, could not be with a mortal. Her husband then took their two children and went up to Heaven to be with his wife, but the Goddess would not allow this. She created a wide river in the sky with her hairpin to keep them separated. The river is the Milky Way between [435] Altair and [5350] Vega. The story says that once a year, all the magpies in the world form a bridge so that the two can be together, and the constellation represents the celestial bridge. The constellation Cygnus occupies an area of 804 square degrees and contains six stars with known planets. It can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -40° and is best visible at 9 p.m. during the month of September. Cygnus contains a prominent asterism, the Northern Cross, formed by the brightest stars in the constellation.

(The Southern Cross is in the constellation Crux .) The brightest star in Cygnus is [3967] alpha Cygni or Deneb ("the tail"), which is also the 19th brightest star in the sky. Deneb is a blue-white supergiant that marks the swan’s tail and is one of the stars of the Summer Triangle, along with [435] alpha Aquilae, Altair, and [5350] alpha Lyrae, Vega. The triangle can be seen directly overhead at midnight during the summer in the northern hemisphere. [3068] gamma Cygni or Sadr ("chest") lies at the centre of the Northern Cross and is surrounded by a diffuse nebula, IC I318, also known as the Gamma Cygni region. The star itself is a yellow-white supergiant. [3070] delta Cygni, also known as Rukh in Persian or Urakhga in Akkadian is a magnitude 3 star named after the roc, a huge mythical bird of prey said to have been able to carry and eat elephants. It is a triple star approximately 170 light-years distant.

Its components are a blue-white supergiant that can be spotted with the naked eye, a yellow-white companion star, and a magnitude 12 orange star. [3069] epsilon Cygni is an orange giant that shares its traditional name, Gienah ("the wing"), with [2958] gamma Corvi. [3071] beta Cygni or Albireo marks the head of the swan. It is a binary star with blue and yellow components. It is only the fifth brightest star in the constellation. Cygnus contains several interesting star clusters and nebulae. NGC 7000 or the North American Nebula got its name because of its resemblance to the continent. It is located to the east of [3967] Deneb. The North American Nebula is a large emission nebula, reddish in colour from the hydrogen emission line, difficult to see with the unaided eye. IC5070 and IC5067 or the Pelican Nebula is located in an H II region, a cloud of glowing gas and plasma in which stars are formed.

Lying close to [3967] Deneb, the nebula resembles the pelican in shape. The Veil Nebula (NGC 6960, 6962, 6979, 6992 and 6995) is a large, ancient, relatively faint remnant of a supernova. It can be spotted south of [3069] epsilon Cygni, but is difficult to see without an OIII filter. NGC 6888 or the Crescent Nebula lies between [3068] gamma and [3078] eta Cygni. It is an emission nebula created by a fast stellar wind of a Wolf-Rayet star, an evolved, massive star showing strong emission lines of helium and nitrogen or helium, carbon and oxygen. It is approximately 5,000 light-years distant. NGC 6946 or the Fireworks Galaxy has been the site of more supernova sightings than any other galaxy. It is an intermediate spiral galaxy lying on the border between the constellations Cygnus and Cepheus , approximately 10 million light-years away from Earth.

The Cygnus X-1 system, close to [3078] eta Cygni, is a well known X-ray source, the first one to be accepted as a black hole candidate. It is a binary star system that includes a blue supergiant variable and a compact object, one that cannot be classified with certainty but is small for its mass, e.g. a white dwarf, a neutron star or a black hole. Cygnus Constellation: Facts, Myth, Star Map, Major Stars, Deep Sky Objects | Constellation Guide Constellation Guide Constellations: A Guide to the Night Sky Cygnus Constellation Cygnus is a prominent constellation in the northern sky. Its name means “the swan” in Latin, and it is also known as the Swan constellation. Cygnus is associated with the myth of Zeus and Leda in Greek mythology. The constellation is easy to find in the sky as it features a well-known asterism known as the Northern Cross . Cygnus was first catalogued the by Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.

Notable objects in the constellation include Cygnus X-1 , a famous x-ray source, the bright stars Deneb and Albireo, the Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946), and several well-known nebulae: the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070), the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888), and the Veil Nebula (NGC 6960, 6962, 6979, 6992, and 6995). FACTS, LOCATION & MAP Cygnus Constellation Map, by IAU and Sky&Telescope magazine Cygnus is the 16th largest constellation in the night sky, occupying an area of 804 square degrees. It lies in the fourth quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ4) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -40°. The neighboring constellations are Cepheus , Draco , Lacerta , Lyra , Pegasus , and Vulpecula .

Cygnus has 10 stars with known planets and contains two Messier objects: Messier 29 (NGC 6913) and Messier 39 (NGC 7092). The brightest star in the constellation is Deneb, Alpha Cygni , which is also the 19th brightest star in the sky, with an apparent magnitude of 1.25. There are two meteor showers associated with the constellation: the October Cygnids and the Kappa Cygnids. Cygnus belongs to the Hercules family of constellations, along with Aquila , Ara , Centaurus , Corona Australis , Corvus , Crater , Crux , Hercules , Hydra , Lupus , Lyra , Ophiuchus , Sagitta , Scutum , Sextans , Serpens , Triangulum Australe , and Vulpecula . MYTH Cygnus constellation is associated with several myths, most frequently the one of the Spartan Queen Leda, who gave birth to two sets of twins, the immortal Pollux and Helen and mortal Castor and Clytemnestra, after being seduced by the god Zeus, who had transformed himself into a swan.

The immortal children were fathered by the god and the mortal ones by Leda’s husband, King Tyndareus. Castor and Pollux are represented by the zodiac constellation Gemini . Cygnus is also sometimes identified as Orpheus, the Greek tragic hero who was murdered by the Thracian Maenads for not honouring Dionysus. After death, Orpheus was transformed into a swan and placed next to his lyre in the sky. The lyre is represented by the neighbouring constellation Lyra . Cygnus constellation is also sometimes associated with any of the several people called Cycnus in Greek mythology. The most famous ones are Cycnus, the murderous son of Ares who challenged Heracles to a duel and was killed, Cycnus, the son of Poseidon, who fought on the side of the Trojans in the Trojan War, was killed by Achilles, and transformed into a swan after death, and Cycnus, a close friend of Phaeton, the mortal son of the Sun god Helios. Of the above three, the myth of Phaeton is the one that is most frequently associated with Cygnus constellation.

In the story, Phaeton and Cycnus were racing each other across the sky when they came too close to the Sun. Their chariots burned up and they fell to the Earth. Cycnus came to and, after looking for Phaeton for a while, he discovered his dead friend’s body trapped at the bottom of the Eridanus River. He was unable to recover the body, so he made a pact with Zeus: if the god gave him the body of a swan, he would only live as long as a swan usually does. Once transformed, Cycnus was able to dive into the river, retrieve Phaeton’s body and give his friend a proper burial. This allowed Phaeton’s soul to travel to the afterlife. Zeus was moved by Cycnus’ sacrifice and placed his image in the sky. The Chinese also associate the constellation with a myth, the one of the “magpie bridge,” Que Qiao. In the story, the lovers Niu Lang and Zhi Nu are separated by the Goddess of Heaven because Zhi Nu is a fairy, and is therefore not allowed to be with a mortal man.

When the Goddess learns that the two are secretly married, she takes Zhi Nu with her and creates a river in the sky to keep the lovers separated. The river is represented by the Milky Way itself in the legend. Zhi Nu’s husband Niu Lang takes their two children to Heaven so that they can all be together, but the Goddess does not relent and keeps the lovers separated. Once a year, the myth goes, all the magpies in the world assemble to help the lovers be together by forming an enormous bridge over the wide river. The constellation Cygnus represents the magpie bridge in this story. MAJOR STARS IN CYGNUS ASTERISM – NORTHERN CROSS The five stars that form the Northern Cross are Deneb (Alpha Cygni), Delta Cygni, Albireo (Beta Cygni), Gienah (Epsilon Cygni) and Sadr (Gamma Cygni) at the centre. Deneb – α Cygni (Alpha Cygni) Deneb is a blue-white supergiant belonging to the spectral class A2 Ia, approximately 1,400 light years distant. It is the brightest star in Cygnus and the 19th brightest star in the night sky.

It has an apparent visual magnitude of 1.25. With an absolute magnitude of -7.0, Deneb is one of the most luminous stars known. It is almost 60,000 times more luminous than our Sun and has about 20 solar masses. While it is difficult to get an accurate distance, Deneb is nevertheless the most distant star that shines at first magnitude. It is also one of the largest white stars known. On Mars, Deneb is the north pole star. Deneb serves as a prototype for a class of variable stars known as the Alpha Cygni variables. Its brightness and spectral type fluctuate slightly as a result of non-radial fluctuations of the star’s surface. Deneb has stopped fusing hydrogen in its core and is expected to explode as a supernova within the next few million years. The name Deneb comes from the Arabic dhaneb, meaning “tail,” from the phrase Dhanab ad-Dajājah, which means “the tail of the hen.” In the Chinese myth of the magpie bridge, Deneb marks the bridge or, alternatively, it represents a fairy who chaperones the two lovers when they meet once a year.

Together with the bright stars Altair in the constellation Aquila (the Eagle) and Vega in Lyra , Deneb forms the Summer Triangle , a prominent asterism in the summer sky. Sadr Region – IC 1318, photo: Eric Larsen Sadr – γ Cygni (Gamma Cygni) Gamma Cygni is the star located at the intersection of the Northern Cross . Its traditional name, Sadr, comes from the Arabic word for “the chest,” şadr. It is also sometimes known by its Latin name, Pectus Gallinae, which means “the hen’s chest.” Gamma Cygni belongs to the spectral class F8 lab (indicating that the star is a supergiant) and it is approximately 1,800 light years distant from Earth. It has an apparent magnitude of 2.23 and is one of the brightest stars that can be seen in the night sky. It has twelve solar masses and a radium 150 times solar. Gamma Cygni is believed to be only about 12 million years old. It consumes its nuclear fuel more rapidly because of its mass.

Gamma Cygni is surrounded by a diffuse emission nebula, IC 1318, also known as the Sadr region or the Gamma Cygni region. Gienah – ε Cygni (Epsilon Cygni) Epsilon Cygni shares its traditional name, Gienah, with Gamma Corvi in the constellation Corvus . The name comes from the Arabic word janāħ, which means “the wing.” Epsilon Cygni is an orange giant star of the spectral type K0 III. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 2.480 and is 72.7 light years distant. It is 62 times more luminous than the Sun and has 11 times the solar radius. The star has a 13th magnitude line-of-sight companion. Rukh – δ Cygni (Delta Cygni) Delta Cygni is a triple star in Cygnus. It will take over as the North Star for at least 400 years around the year 11,250. The star system has a combined apparent visual magnitude of 2.87 and is approximately 165 light years distant.

The Delta Cygni system consists of two stars lying close together and a star located a bit further from the main pair. The brightest component in the system is a blue-white giant belonging to the spectral class B9 III, which is approaching the final stages of life on the main sequence. It is a fast rotating star, with an equatorial speed of at least 135 kilometres per second. The star’s closer companion is a yellow-white star belonging to the spectral class F1 V with an apparent magnitude of 6.33. The third component in the Delta Cygni system is a 12th magnitude orange giant. Albireo – β Cygni (Beta Cygni) Albireo, Beta Cygni, is only the fifth brightest star in the constellation Cygnus. It is a binary star system that appears as a single third magnitude star to the naked eye. The system is approximately 380 light years distant. Albireo marks the head of the swan and is sometimes also known as “the beak star.” It is one of the stars that form the Northern Cross .

Albireo A, photo: Henryk Kowalewski Albireo is composed of a yellow star with an apparent magnitude of 3.18, which is in fact itself a close binary star, and a fainter blue companion star with an apparent magnitude of 5.82. The components are located 35 arc seconds apart. The contrast between the stars makes Albireo a pretty popular target among amateur astronomers. Albireo A, the brighter component, consists of two stars only 9.4 arc seconds apart, which cannot be resolved with telescopes less than 20’’ in size. The system belongs to the spectral class K3III. Albireo B belongs to the spectral type B0V and is a fast-rotating Be star, with an estimated rotational velocity of 250 kilometres per second. ζ Cygni (Zeta Cygni) Zeta Cygni is a yellow star belonging to the spectral class G8III, approximately 151 light years distant. It has an apparent magnitude of 3.20. Its radius is 14.7 times solar, and the star is 119 times brighter than the Sun.

It is believed to a core-helium fusing giant. The star has a 12th magnitude companion believed to be a white dwarf. Zeta Cygni and the star CCDM J21129+3014B form a binary system. τ Cygni (Tau Cygni) Tau Cygni is a double star in Cygnus. It is composed of a yellowish white subgiant star, GJ 822.1 A, that belongs to the spectral class F2IV, and a sixth magnitude companion, GJ 822.1 B, a yellow main sequence star of the spectral type G0V. The companion has a similar size, luminosity and surface temperature as the Sun. Tau Cygni’s components have apparent magnitudes of 3.84 and 6.44. The system is 68.2 light years distant from the solar system. κ Cygni (Kappa Cygni) Kappa Cygni is a giant star of the spectral type G9 III. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.814 and is 124.2 light years distant from Earth.

The star marks the tip of the swan’s left wing. It can be seen by the naked eye. Kappa Cygni is also notable for the meteor shower associated with it. The Kappa Cygnids meteor shower (KCG) can be observed about five degrees north of the star. It is a minor meteor shower that takes place in August every year. η Cygni (Eta Cygni) Eta Cygni is an orange giant, belonging to the spectral class K0III, approximately 139 light years distant. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.909. π Cygni (Pi Cygni) Pi Cygni consists of two star systems. Pi-1 Cygni belongs to the spectral type B3IV. It has a visual magnitude of 4.67 and is 1680 light years distant. Its traditional name, Azelfafage, comes either from the Arabic phrase al thīlf al faras, which means “the horse track” or from al ʽazal al-dajājah, “the hen’s tail.” Pi-2 Cygni has a magnitude of 4.23 and is approximately 1156 light years distant.

It is a spectroscopic binary star whose main component is a B3-type blue giant, almost 2,200 times more luminous than the Sun. Pi-2 Cygni has a couple of traditional names: Pennae Caudalis, which means “tail fathers” in Latin, and Sama al Azrak, which is Arabic for “the blue sky.” 61 Cygni – Bessel’s Star, photo: European Southern Observatory Bessel’s Star (Piazzi’s Falling Star) – 61 Cygni 61 Cygni is a double star system composed of a pair of two dwarfs belonging to the spectral types K5V and K7V, which orbit each other every 659 years. They have apparent visual magnitudes of 5.21 and 6.03 respectively. The 61 Cygni system is only 11.41 light years distant from the solar system. It is the 15th nearest known system to Earth.

61 Cygni A, the brighter component in the system, is the fourth nearest naked-eye star, after Sirius in Canis Major , Epsilon Eridani in Eridanus , and Procyon A in Canis Minor . It will come within nine light years of the solar system around the year 20,000. 61 Cygni is notable for its large proper motion, the angular change in position over the course of time, as observed from the solar system’s centre of mass. The star’s proper motion was originally demonstrated by the Italian astronomer and mathematician Giuseppe Piazzi in 1804. He named 61 Cygni The Flying Star. 61 Cygni is the first star other than the Sun to have its distance from Earth measured. The German astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel did this using the method of parallax, measuring the displacement of the star’s apparent position observed along two different lines of sight and the angle of inclination between the two. The star’s large proper motion made it a great candidate for this. 34 Cygni (P Cygni) P Cygni is a variable star classified as a hypergiant luminous blue variable (LBV).

Luminous blue variables are rare and only found in regions of intense star formation. They are usually short lived. Because of their enormous mass and energy, they exhaust their nuclear fuel pretty quickly and erupt into supernovae after only a few million years. Our Sun, for comparison, has been around for several billion years. P Cygni belongs to the spectral class B1Ia+ and is approximately 6,000 light years distant from Earth. It is one of the most luminous stars ever discovered in the Milky Way. It was first observed by the Dutch astronomer Willem Janszoon Blaeu in August 1600. It had not been discovered sooner because it only brightened to third magnitude in the last few years of the 16th century. It faded again in 1626, then brightened again 1655, only to fade again in 1662. The star’s fluctuations in brightness became less dramatic around 1715. It has been a fifth magnitude star ever since. Today, it has an apparent magnitude of 4.8 with fluctuations up to 0.5 magnitudes.

It was Johann Bayer who gave the star the designation P as a nova. P Cygni is sometimes called a permanent nova because of its extreme changes in brightness, even though the star’s behaviour is not that of a true nova. 39 Cygni 39 Cygni is an orange star belonging to the spectral class K3III. It has an apparent magnitude of 4.436 and is approximately 260 light years distant. It is cooler than the Sun, but much brighter and larger. Its surface temperature is between 3,500 and 5,000 kelvin. θ Cygni (Theta Cygni) Theta Cygni is main sequence star belonging to the spectral class F3 V, approximately 59.8 light years distant from the solar system. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.490. It is four times as luminous as our Sun and has about 38 percent more mass. It is between 0.6 and 1.9 billion years old. The star has a faint companion, one with a magnitude of 13.03, located about three arc seconds away. The companion is a red dwarf belonging to the spectral class M3 V.

Theta Cygni is also notable for possibly having an extrasolar planet in its system. The ELODIE team discovered radial velocity variations that suggest that the star has a planetary object orbiting it with a period of less than six months. The planet is believed to be twice the size of Jupiter, but its presence has not been confirmed yet. 16 Cygni star system and orbits, photo: Arnaugir 16 Cygni 16 Cygni is a triple star system in Cygnus. The brighter two components, two yellow dwarfs similar to the Sun, have apparent magnitudes of 5.96 and 6.20. The third component is a red dwarf. The system is some 70 light years distant from Earth. An extrasolar planet has been discovered in an eccentric orbit around 16 Cygni B. Gliese 777 Gliese 777 is a yellow subgiant star belonging to the spectral class G6IV, 51.81 light years distant. It has an apparent magnitude of 5.71. In 2005, two extrasolar planets were confirmed in its system.

The primary star has a companion, a dim red dwarf of the spectral type M4.5V, located approximately 3,000 astronomical units away. The red dwarf has a visual magnitude of 14.40 and is a suspected binary star. Ruchba – ω Cygni (Omega Cygni) Omega Cygni is a multiple star system in Cygnus. It consists of two visual doubles only a third of a degree apart. The traditional name, Ruchba, comes from the Arabic phrase meaning “the hen’s knee.” Omega-1 Cygni is a hot subgiant belonging to the spectral class B2.5, approximately 910 light years distant. It has a visual magnitude of 4.95. Omega-2 Cygni is a red giant of the spectral type M2III approximately 400 light years from Earth. It has an apparent magnitude of 5.22.

DEEP SKY OBJECTS IN CYGNUS Messier 29 – NGC 6913, photo: Ole NIelsen Messier 29 (M29) – NGC 6913 Messier 29 is an open cluster with an apparent visual magnitude of 7.1, approximately 4,000 light years distant. It can be seen with binoculars. The cluster was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. It lies near the star Gamma Cygni, about 1.7 degrees to the south and a little east. The estimated age of the cluster is 10 million years. The brightest star has a visual magnitude of 8.59. The five hottest stars in the cluster belong to the spectral class B0. Messier 39 – NGC 7092, Atlas Image obtained as part of the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) Messier 39 (M39) – NGC 7092 Messier 39 is another open star cluster, also discovered by Charles Messier in 1764.

It is between 200 and 300 million years old, which is an intermediate age for an open cluster. The cluster is located about 800 light years from the solar system. M39 has an apparent visual magnitude of 5.5. The brightest star belongs to the spectral class A0 and has a visual magnitude of 6.83. All the stars observed in the cluster are on the main sequence, and the brightest ones will soon evolve to the red giant stage. The cluster can be found two and a half degrees west and a degree south of the star Pi-2 Cygni. Fireworks Galaxy – NGC 6946 (Arp 29, Caldwell 12) The Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in Cygnus. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 9.6 and is approximately 22.5 million light years distant. Fireworks Galaxy – NGC 6946 The galaxy is located near the border with the constellation Cepheus . It lies close to the galactic plane and is very obscured by interstellar matter of the Milky Way.

NGC 6946 was discovered by the German-born British astronomer Sir Frederick William Herschel on September 9, 1798. Nine supernovae have been observed in the galaxy since: SN 1917A, SN 1939C, SN 1948B, SN 1968D, SN 1969P, SN 1980K, SN 2002hh, SN 2004et and SN 2008S. Cygnus X-1 Cygnus X-1 is a famous X-ray source, one of the strongest ones seen from Earth. It was first discovered in 1964 during a rocket flight. Cygnus X-1 is notable for being the first X-ray source widely believed to be a black hole candidate; it has a mass 8.7 times that of the Sun, yet it is too compact to be any kind of known object other than a black hole. It is approximately 6,100 light years distant from Earth.

Cygnus X-1 orbits a blue supergiant variable star, HDE 226868, and the two form a binary system. Over time, an accretion disk of material brought from the star by a stellar wind has formed around Cygnus X-1. North America Nebula – NGC 7000 (Caldwell 20) NGC 7000 in Cygnus was named the North America Nebula because its shape strongly resembles that of the continent. The nebula is obscured by a band of dust, which determines its shape as we see it. North America Nebula – NGC 7000, photo: NASA, JPL-Caltech, L. Rebull (SSC, Caltech) The North America Nebula is an emission nebula. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4 and is approximately 1,600 light years distant from Earth. The North America Nebula is very large, about 120 by 100 arc minutes, but it usually cannot be seen without binoculars because its surface brightness is pretty low.

It was discovered by William Herschel on October 24, 1786. The greatest concentration of star forming activity occurs in the region called the Cygnus Wall, which is the part of the nebula that corresponds to the Mexico and Central America part, so to speak. North America Nebula NGC 7000 is a part of the same H II region (interstellar cloud in which stars are formed) as the neighbouring Pelican Nebula (IC 5070). Pelican Nebula – IC 5070 and IC 5067 The Pelican Nebula is an emission nebula in Cygnus. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 8.0 and is approximately 1,800 light years distant from Earth. It got its name because its shape resembles that of the pelican. Pelican Nebula – IC 5070, photo: Hewholooks The nebula is an H II region, a large gas cloud in which star forming activity takes place and newly formed blue stars emit ultraviolet light which ionizes the gas in the cloud.

The nebula is associated with the nearby North America Nebula and is separated from it by a large molecular cloud filled with dark dust. The two nebulae are about 1,500 light years apart. The Pelican Nebula is located near the bright star Deneb and can be found to the northeast of the star. Sadr Region – IC 1318 IC 1318 is an emission nebula formed around the star Sadr, Gamma Cygni, located at the intersection of the Northern Cross in Cygnus. Crescent Nebula – NGC 6888, photo: Hewholooks Crescent Nebula – NGC 6888 (Caldwell 27, Sharpless 105) The Crescent Nebula is an emission nebula formed by the strong stellar wind of HD 192163 (WR 136), which is a Wolf Rayet star in Cygnus. A Wolf Rayet star is a hot, old, massive star that is rapidly losing mass by means of a fast stellar wind.

The shell is a result of the stellar wind from the star colliding with the wind that the star ejected when it evolved into a red giant some 400,000 years ago. The nebula is 18’x12’ in size, has an apparent magnitude of 7.4, and is approximately 5,000 light years distant. Cygnus Loop (Sharpless 103) The Cygnus Loop is a large supernova remnant, almost three degrees across in the sky, forming an emission nebula in Cygnus. It is a strong source of soft X-rays. Veil Nebula – a wide-field image, made as a colour composite from individual exposures, photo: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI, AURA)-ESA, Hubble Collaboration, and the Digitized Sky Survey 2. – J. Hester (Arizona State University) and Davide De Martin (ESA, Hubble) The arcs of the loop that emit in visible light are known as the Veil Nebula, and the rest of the loop can be detected in radio, infrared and X-ray images.

Veil Nebula (Cirrus Nebula, Filamentary Nebula) – NGC 6960, NGC 6992, NGC 6995, NGC 6974, NGC 6979 (IC 1340) The Veil Nebula is the visual component of the Cygnus Loop. It consists of several components: the Western Veil (NGC 6960), the Eastern Veil (NGC 6992, NGC 6995, IC 1340), and Fleming’s Triangle (Pickering’s Triangle). NGC 6960, the Western Veil, is sometimes also called the Witch’s Broom. It forms the western-most part of the nebula. The Eastern Veil consists of three bright regions – NGC 6996, NGC 6995 and IC 1340. Pickering’s Triangle, also known as Pickering’s Wedge or Pickering’s Triangular Wisp, is a faint region of nebulosity discovered by the American astronomer Williamina Fleming in 1904.

It was named after Edward Charles Pickering, the director of the Harvard Observatory, where Fleming made the discovery. NGC 6974 and NGC 6979 are also regions of nebulosity located in a cloud at the northern edge of the nebula. NGC 6979 was discovered by William Herschel, and NGC 6974 by Lord Rosse, a British astronomer. The Cygnus Loop is about 90 light years in size and approximately 1470 light years distant from Earth. The estimated age of the supernova remnant is between 5,000 and 8,000 years. Astronomy Cygnus the Swan Cygnus the Swan July 2002 : Dave Huestis Until I sat down to write this column, I wasn't really sure what my topic for July was going to be! Jupiter and Saturn would be finally lost in the solar glare. Brilliant Venus would be brightening and beckoning for anyone to look at her, but I did a column about the Goddess of Love within the last year.

July has a couple of meteor showers during the last week of the month, but unfortunately the Full Moon is on the 24th, thereby washing out all but the brightest shooting stars. That has never deterred me from observing them myself, or suggesting you do the same. But the Perseids are coming up in August and they usually put on a much better show (and this year moonlight will not be a limiting factor). What about a constellation I haven't written about in recent years? Ah, yes! One of my favorites that lies among the stars of the Milky Way...Cygnus the Swan will be perfect for July!! What do you see when you look up into the night sky? If you live well away from major light pollution sources you can perhaps see several hundred stars on a good night. There may even be enough stars visible for you to connect the stars with imaginary lines to form patterns in the sky. Though you can make up your own star patterns, sort of like a Rorschach ink-blot test, today s star patterns are quite old. One of these constellations, Cygnus the Swan (also known as the Northern Cross), can be found in one of the richest star regions in the sky.

Thee, silver Swan, who silent, can overpass? A hundred with seven radiant stars compose. The graceful form: amid the lucid stream Of the fair Milky Way. --Eudosia During July after sunset, Cygnus can be found about halfway up the northeastern horizon, immersed in the myriad of stars that comprise the Milky Way, That gossamer cloud of tenuous light stretches through Cygnus to the heart of our galaxy in Sagittarius. You ll probably pick out the pattern of a cross before you see a swan in these stars. Here s how both patterns are represented. Deneb, the northernmost and brightest star of the constellation, forms the top of the cross, or the tail of the swan. The center star of the cross, called Sadr, also represents the hen s breast. The easternmost star that forms the cross is called Gienah, meaning the wing. The westernmost star of the cross, has no proper name, but it represents the right wing of the swan. In astronomical nomenclature this star is Delta Cygni, the fourth brightest star in Cygnus. Head down the Milky Way from Sadr and you ll come to Alberio at the base of the cross.

Alberio means "beak," and represents the beak of our swan. We’ve now outlined this celestial bird in the heavens, and one can easily imagine the Swan flying over the river of stars that comprise the Milky Way. This constellation is more important to Christians who see it as a cross, because during December, just before Christmas, the Northern Cross sits upright on the north-western horizon for northern hemisphere viewers. The mythology of Cygnus is not quite as exciting as that of other constellations. Though all the myths try to describe how the star pattern ended up in the sky, none represents this pattern of stars any better than a story told by Ovid. When Phaeton, son of Helios, was thrown into the river Eridanus after his unfortunate journey across the sky in his father s sun chariot, his relative Cygnus deeply lamented the death of this brave young man. After Phaeton had disappeared beneath the river, Cygnus frequently plunged into the stream to seek him. The gods were so incensed (as they always seemed to be) that they changed him into a swan. Which is why today the swan pensively paddles about the water, frequently thrusting its head beneath the surface.

This myth covers it all -- the swan and the Milky Way analogy, as well as the behavior of the swan. Is there anything of interest to observe within the confines of Cygnus? Yes indeed! Just with your naked eye in a dark sky you will have no difficulty seeing the cloud-like Milky Way stretching through Cygnus. In the middle of this celestial bird the Milky Way divides into two separate streams of stars. Take a look with binoculars to start with and scan this area. It is a very beautiful region of space. If you have a telescope of any size, don’t hesitate to train it on this area of sky. Agnes Clerke, a late 19th- and early 20th-century astronomy writer described Cygnus as perhaps the most lovely effect of colour in the heavens. Indeed, there are more red and orange colored stars in this region of space than anywhere else in the sky. Scan around with a telescope and you’ll see what I mean. The red stars are most striking. You will be well rewarded for your search efforts. Go back to the top of the cross, Deneb (the tail of the Swan), and scan with binoculars a little northeast of this star.

If you have a dark sky and your binoculars provide a wide view (7 X 50 s are good for this task), you may glimpse the North American Nebula, so called because this area of dust and gas resembles North America as it would appear on a map. A dark sky is an absolute necessity to locate this wonderful object. Use binoculars to locate a large open cluster of stars north of Deneb. It s called M39 and contains about 20 bright stars. A low-power eyepiece on a small telescope will allow the object to fill the entire field of view. Just south from Sadr one can find another open cluster called M29. This one only contains about eight bright stars, but the cluster is more compact than M39. The four brightest stars of this group form a square. The cluster can be found using binoculars, but a low-power telescope will enhance the view. And then there s one of the finest double stars in the sky right there in Cygnus. It s our old friend Alberio, the beak of the Swan or the bottom end of the Northern Cross.

When double star observing was somewhat new, every observer tried to outdo one another when describing the colors of the double stars they were observing. For instance, the components of Alberio were described as topaz yellow and sapphire blue. Well, I call them the Cub Scout stars, blue and gold. The scouts who visit us at Seagrave Observatory certainly like that description. Another more difficult double star to observe is Delta Cygni. Try to resolve the star into two components using a six-inch telescope. The faint companion is bluish. In a really dark sky using a large telescope, or with a smaller telescope using a O-III nebula filter, you might be able to pick out the Veil Nebula. The remnants of a supernova explosion long ago, the Veil can be found off Gienah. With a nebula filter and a dark sky you should be able to spot it fairly easily. Without a filter you’ll need a lot of patience plus some incredible sky conditions. The filter enhances the emission spectra of the nebula, making it easier to detect. So get out there and give Cygnus a thorough examination. Whether you use your eyes, binoculars or a telescope, the Swan has much to offer.

The accompanying star map will give you an approximate idea of where the objects I discussed in the article can be found. Unlike the Swan who often keeps its head below the surface of the water, all you have to is keep your eyes to the skies. When to Observe Constellations - Cygnus email this page to a friend Constellations - Cygnus Cygnus is situated in the Milky Way. Its brightest stars mark the Northern Cross. Cygnus, with the bright star Deneb in the swan's tail, appears high in the summer sky. The three bright stars Deneb, Vega (in the constellation of Lyra), and Altair (in the constellation of Aquila) mark the Summer Triangle. Altair is about 40 degrees from Deneb and Vega. Albireo, the bright star at the head of Cygnus, is an excellent example of a telescopic double star. Even with binoculars, you can see that it consists of two stars of different colours, one is very orange the other bluish white. You must take a look at them.

As Cygnus lies in the Milky Way, it is full of variable stars (stars with brightness that varies over a period of time) and there have been several novae in the boundaries of this constellation - the last was seen in 1976. The North American Nebula lies within Cygnus; it's very dim but is reported to be easy to photograph. The nebula needs a telescope with aperture larger than 6" to see it. TELESCOPIC OBJECTS Stars in Cygnus one can compare the relative apparent luminosities of the stars. Alpha-Cygni appears 2.47 times brighter than gamma-Cygni, and gamma-Cygni appears 2.17 times brighter than beta-Cygni. Using a very rough approximation, one can point out that while alpha-Cygni appears about 2 times brighter than gamma-Cygni, it is 2 times farther away (just the reverse of the laymanï¿½s first assumption). The same applies to the next pair: gamma-Cygni appears to be about 2 times brighter than beta-Cygni, even though it is 2 times farther away.

Data on 61-Cygni is included partly for historical interest: It was the first star to have its distance measured by parallax (Bessel, 1837). It is a very close neighbor to the sun (the 13th closest), but it appears only about 1/7 as bright as beta-Cygni even though it lies 37 times closer to us than beta-Cygni. These distance-luminosity relationships demonstrate how radically different are the natures of the stars we see. In absolute terms, alpha-Cygni has a luminosity of more than 60,000 times the sun, gamma-Cygni more than 7,000, and beta-Cygni nearly 800. In contrast, 61-Cygni is only about 9% as bright as the sun. [The data on the stars in Cygnus came from Skyguide, A Field Guide to the Heavens (Golden Press, 1990) and Astronomy: From the Earth to the Universe, by Jay Pasachoff, 1987, Appendix 7.

What data I coudnï¿½t find I derived from equations in my old college texts: Survey of the Universe, Menzel et al., Chapter 19 and Astrophysics and Stellar Astronomy, Swihart, Chapter I]. Deneb is distant and very luminous | Brightest Stars | EarthSky Deneb is distant and very luminous By Larry Sessions in Brightest Stars | August 18, 2016 Deneb is one of the most distant stars you will see with your eye alone. That’s because it’s one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Image via Fred Espenak Deneb is one of the most distant stars you will see with your eye alone. That’s because it’s one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way galaxy. The exact distance to Deneb is unclear, with estimates ranging from about 1,425 light-years to perhaps as much as 7,000 light-years. Whatever its exact distance, when you gaze at Deneb, know that you are gazing across thousands of light-years of space.

The best estimates for Deneb’s distance likely are those obtained by the Hipparcos Space Astrometry Mission in the 1990s. A simple calculation from initial Hipparcos data gives the figure of 3,230 light-years, whereas the refined data yield just over 1,400 light-years. At any of these estimates distances, Deneb is one of the farthest stars the unaided human eye can see. It is so far, that the light that reaches the Earth today started on its journey well more than 1,000 years ago. Deneb (bottom half of frame) is 200 times bigger than the sun. Image via AstroBob In order for us to see it at its enormous distance, Deneb must also be tremendously bright and energetic. Among the 20 brightest stars, only Rigel in Orion surpasses Deneb in intrinsic brightness. Deneb is an A2Ia star, which says that it is white hot (A2) and a supergiant star (Ia). Prof.

James Kaler, using the figure of 2,600 light years as the distance, estimated a diameter 200 times greater than our sun, and about a quarter of a million times brighter in visible light. Considering its spectral classification (A2), Deneb must have a surface temperature between about 8500 to 9000 kelvins (roughly 14,800 to 15,700 degrees F). This is the famous Hertzsprung-Russel diagram, which shows the luminosities of stars. See Deneb at the top of the diagram? It is one of the most luminous stars known. Deneb is not the biggest star in the Milky Way. Betelgeuse and Antares , among others, are larger. But Deneb may well be the most energetic (based on the amount of electromagnetic radiation it produces) of the A-type stars. The famed North American nebula, a large cloud of glowing gas in the shape of the continent, likely is glowing in a process similar to fluorescence, energized by the radiation of Deneb.

Stellar luminosity: The true brightnesses of stars How to see it White Deneb is the 20th brightest star in the sky. It is one of the most remote stars visible to the eye alone. You can gaze at this faraway star starting in late spring, when Deneb rises over the northeastern horizon by mid-evening. A month later, Deneb is already in the sky by the time it gets dark. In standard time, the midnight culmination date is about August 1. Using Daylight Time, the midnight culmination is about August 15. The word ‘culmination’ indicates the star’s highest point in the sky. Deneb is part of several famous star patterns, which overlap each other. It’s the brightest of the stars composing the constellation Cygnus the Swan, where it marks the Swan’s Tail. When you hear ‘deneb’ in a star name, it always means ‘tail.’ Simultaneously, Deneb marks the head of an asterism (a readily recognizable grouping of stars that is not an official constellation), known as the Northern Cross. Plus it is one of the three stars known as the Summer Triangle . The other two stars are Vega and Altair .

Deneb is the northernmost and dimmest of the three Triangle stars, but its association with the other bright stars makes it easy to identify. Deneb is circumpolar as seen from locations of about 45 degrees north latitude, roughly the northern tier of US states. In other words, from the northern U.S. and similar latitudes, Deneb never sets but instead circles round and round the pole star. It cannot ever be seen south of about 45 degrees south latitude. That includes Antarctica, far southern Argentina and Chile, and perhaps the far southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island. Aside from that, just about anyone should have a chance to see Deneb at one time or another. History and Myth The name Deneb derives from the Arabic Al Dhanab al Dajajah meaning Tail of the Hen. It obviously dates from an earlier incarnation of Cygnus not as a swan but as a chicken.

Like many bright stars, Deneb has been called by a number of other names, but the oddest, according the Richard Hinckley Allen, who cites the Arabic name above, was Uropygium, meaning the posterior part of a bird’s body from which feathers grow, and oddly sometimes called the “Pope’s nose.” The constellation Cygnus the Swan. The bright star Deneb represents the Tail of Cygnus. Image via Constellation of Words In Chinese mythology Deneb is associated with the story of the Celestial Princess or the Weaver Girl. In this story a Girl (the star Vega) is separated from her beloved (a cowherd represented by the star Altair) by the Milky Way. Once a year, the girl and the cowherd are allowed to meet briefly when a large flock of magpies form a bridge across the starry river. Deneb represents the bridge. Deneb’s position is RA: 20h 41m 26s, dec: +45° 16′ 49″.

Cygnus Cygnus Visible between latitudes 90 and -40 degrees Best seen in September (at 9:00 PM) Named Stars Deneb , along with Altair and Vega form the well-known Summer Triangle . Another famous object in Cygnus is Cygnus X-1 , a black hole candidate.

Question: What is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus?
Answer: DENEB