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.
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 position of the Mira variable Chi Cygni, which is here too
faint to be seen, is indicated by the circle.
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.
Cygnus has two stars with orbiting planets, the double star
16 Cygni and the triple star
HD 188753.
Photo by Jim Kaler.
Return to STARS.