Cygnus Outline
Myth:
Cygnus was first recorded in the 2nd century by Greek astronomer Ptolemy.
Several myths and different legendary swans are associated with Cygnus; from Zeus turning into a swan to seduce Leda, to Orpheus being transformed into a sawn after his death.
In the popular myth of Phaethon, Cycnus sacrificed his immortality to be turned into a sawn, so he could retrieve his brother Phaeton’s body from the bottom of a river. This touched the gods and Zeus placed his image into the sky.
Stars Outline:
Around 10 main stars with known planets make up the constellation Cygnus.
The most well-known are the five that make up the Northern Cross – a smaller constellation inside Cygnus – which are Deneb (α Cygni), Sadr (γ Cygni), Gienah (ε Cygni), Rukh (δ Cygni ), and Albireo (β Cygni).
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As a blue-white supergiant, Deneb is 19th brightest star in the sky and is the tail of the swan.
• Sadr is a supergiant located in the center of the constellation Cygnus and is surrounded by a diffuse emission nebula.
• Gienah is an orange giant star and translates roughly to “the wing”.
• Rukh is a triple star system with two stars grouped close together and the other located farther out.
• Finally, Albireo is a binary star system located at the head of the swan and is the dimmest out of the previous five.
Other major stars are ζ Cygni, τ Cygni, κ Cygni, η Cygni, π Cygni, Bessel’s Star (Piazzi’s Falling Star or 61 Cygni),34 Cygni (P Cygni),39 Cygni, θ Cygni, 16 Cygni,Gliese 777, and Ruchba (ω Cygni).
Celestial Objects:
There are many deep sky objects in Cygnus due to its location in the Milky Way.
There are several various nebulae such as, the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), Pelican Nebula (IC 5070), Veil Nebula (NGC 6960, 6962, 6979, 6992, and 6995), and Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) and the two emission nebulae Cygnus Loop (Sharpless 103) and Sadr Region (IC 1318).
Two open clusters, Messier 29 (NGC 6913) and Messier 39 (NGC 7092) are found in the constellation Cygnus.
Other deep sky objects include the Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946), and Cygnus X-1(a strong x-ray source believed to be a black hole candidate).
When to see it:
In the Northern Hemisphere, Cygnus reaches its highest point around June 29 at midnight, but it is visible from early summer to mid-autumn in the
evenings.
Cygnus was first recorded in the 2nd century by Greek astronomer Ptolemy.
Several myths and different legendary swans are associated with Cygnus; from Zeus turning into a swan to seduce Leda, to Orpheus being transformed into a sawn after his death.
In the popular myth of Phaethon, Cycnus sacrificed his immortality to be turned into a sawn, so he could retrieve his brother Phaeton’s body from the bottom of a river. This touched the gods and Zeus placed his image into the sky.
Stars Outline:
Around 10 main stars with known planets make up the constellation Cygnus.
The most well-known are the five that make up the Northern Cross – a smaller constellation inside Cygnus – which are Deneb (α Cygni), Sadr (γ Cygni), Gienah (ε Cygni), Rukh (δ Cygni ), and Albireo (β Cygni).
• …show more content…
As a blue-white supergiant, Deneb is 19th brightest star in the sky and is the tail of the swan.
• Sadr is a supergiant located in the center of the constellation Cygnus and is surrounded by a diffuse emission nebula.
• Gienah is an orange giant star and translates roughly to “the wing”.
• Rukh is a triple star system with two stars grouped close together and the other located farther out.
• Finally, Albireo is a binary star system located at the head of the swan and is the dimmest out of the previous five.
Other major stars are ζ Cygni, τ Cygni, κ Cygni, η Cygni, π Cygni, Bessel’s Star (Piazzi’s Falling Star or 61 Cygni),34 Cygni (P Cygni),39 Cygni, θ Cygni, 16 Cygni,Gliese 777, and Ruchba (ω Cygni).
Celestial Objects:
There are many deep sky objects in Cygnus due to its location in the Milky Way.
There are several various nebulae such as, the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), Pelican Nebula (IC 5070), Veil Nebula (NGC 6960, 6962, 6979, 6992, and 6995), and Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) and the two emission nebulae Cygnus Loop (Sharpless 103) and Sadr Region (IC 1318).
Two open clusters, Messier 29 (NGC 6913) and Messier 39 (NGC 7092) are found in the constellation Cygnus.
Other deep sky objects include the Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946), and Cygnus X-1(a strong x-ray source believed to be a black hole candidate).
When to see it:
In the Northern Hemisphere, Cygnus reaches its highest point around June 29 at midnight, but it is visible from early summer to mid-autumn in the
evenings.