CYGNUS

Cygnus, the celestial Swan, flies toward lower right and to the horizon, great Deneb, seen toward the upper left, marking its tail. Albireo, down and to the right, marks the Swan's head, Sadr, just up and to the left of center, its breast, Gienah Cygni (down and to the left of center) the east wing, and Delta Cygni the west wing. Zeta is down toward bottom left, Eta down and to the right of center. Cygnus reversed becomes the Northern Cross, Deneb now at the top, Albireo at the foot, the arms of the cross stretching from upper right to lower left, Sadr at the intersection. The "luminous blue variable" P Cygni is just down and to the right of Sadr, while 61 Cygni is the right hand star of the triangle at far left center; 29 Cyg is just down and to the right of Pi, while 59 Cyg is the middle of the three stars toward the upper left corner. The Mira variable Chi Cygni, which lies well up and to the left of Albireo, is here too faint to be seen. The "Omicrons" are at top center, Omicron-2 (32 Cygni) on top, Omicron-1 (31 Cygni) at the bottom. Just to the upper right of Omicron-1 and barely resolved from it is 30 Cygni. The two stars just above far left center are Sigma (top) and Tau. V1334 Cyg is just up and to the left of Tau, while Lambda is immediately above Gienah. Lambda and Gienah point directly downward to 52 Cyg, while 55 Cyg is just up and to the left of Deneb. 59 Cyg is the middle of the three stars up and to the left of 55; 68 Cyg is to the left of and a bit up from Xi. Kappa, Mu, and Psi Cyg are off the top of the picture; see them on the expanded view of the Summer Triangle. The black hole binary Cygnus X-1 is near the center of the picture, and can be seen on the deep image. The Milky Way is faintly visible in the background. Deneb lies at the northeastern apex of the Summer Triangle.

To see a labelled image, push the star:

Cygnus has two stars with orbiting planets: the double star 16 Cygni and the triple star HD188753.

See Cygnus from Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis Edition of 1781.

See Cygnus in the Summer Triangle rising and setting.

See a deep image of Cygnus.

See Cygnus in a wide-angle view of the northern sky.

See northern Cygnus at higher resolution.

By Jim Kaler. Return to STARS.