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 the 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 who's brightness varies over a period of time) and the 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 can't be seen with a 6" telescope.
| Telescopic Objects | Main Stars | ||||||
| Object | Magnitude | Comments | Name | Magnitude | Distance L/Y | Comments | |
| M29 | 6.6 | Open Cluster | a Deneb | 1.2 | 1,800 | 70,000 times as luminous as the sun | |
| M39 | 4.6 | Open Cluster | g Sadr | 2.2 | 750 | ||
| e Gienah | 2.4 | 82 | |||||
| d | 2.8 | 124 | |||||
| b Albeiro | 3.1 | 390 | |||||
| Variable Stars | Range | Period | Multiple Stars | ||||
| l | 3.3 - 14.2 | 7 Days | Name | Magnitude / Separation" | |||
| b Albeiro | 3.1 & 5.1 / 34.4" | The best example of a double star | |||||
Check out the other Constellations with the navigation menu below