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Cygnus (constellation)

 
Cygnus (constellation)

 
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Cygnus (constellation)
 
 
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Cygnus is a northern constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
. Its name is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for swan
Swan

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes goose and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini....
. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism
Asterism

Asterism may refer to:* Asterism , a pattern of stars* Asterism , an optical phenomenon in gemstones* Asterism , a moderately rare typographical symbol denoting a break in passages...
 known as the Northern Cross (in contrast to the Southern Cross). Cygnus was among the 48 constellations listed by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy
Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemaeus , known in English as Ptolemy , was a Roman Greek mathematics, Greek astronomy, geographer and astrologer. He lived in History of Roman Egypt, and was probably born there in a town in the Thebaid called Ptolemais Hermiou; he died in Alexandria around 168 AD....
, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.

lass="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m344788",this)' onMouseout='hide("m344788")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Albireo">Albireo
Albireo

Albireo is the List of stars in Cygnus in the constellation Cygnus . Although it has the Bayer designation beta, it is fainter than Gamma Cygni, Delta Cygni, and Epsilon Cygni....
, a double star with blue and yellow components is at the "head".






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Cygnus is a northern constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
. Its name is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for swan
Swan

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes goose and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini....
. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism
Asterism

Asterism may refer to:* Asterism , a pattern of stars* Asterism , an optical phenomenon in gemstones* Asterism , a moderately rare typographical symbol denoting a break in passages...
 known as the Northern Cross (in contrast to the Southern Cross). Cygnus was among the 48 constellations listed by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy
Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemaeus , known in English as Ptolemy , was a Roman Greek mathematics, Greek astronomy, geographer and astrologer. He lived in History of Roman Egypt, and was probably born there in a town in the Thebaid called Ptolemais Hermiou; he died in Alexandria around 168 AD....
, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.

Notable features


Stars

Albireo
Albireo

Albireo is the List of stars in Cygnus in the constellation Cygnus . Although it has the Bayer designation beta, it is fainter than Gamma Cygni, Delta Cygni, and Epsilon Cygni....
, a double star with blue and yellow components is at the "head". Deneb
Deneb

Deneb is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus and one of the vertices of the Summer Triangle. It is the 19th list of brightest stars, with an apparent magnitude of 1.25....
, its brightest star, is at the tail and is one star of the summer triangle
Summer Triangle

The Summer Triangle is an astronomical asterism involving an imaginary triangle drawn on the northern hemisphere's celestial sphere, with its defining vertices at Altair, Deneb, and Vega....
.

Albireo

Deep sky objects


Several star cluster
Star cluster

Star clusters or star clouds are groups of stars which are gravity bound. Two types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of hundreds of thousands of very old stars, while open clusters generally contain less than a few hundred members, and are often very young....
s and nebula
Nebula

A nebula is an interstellar cloud of cosmic dust, hydrogen gas and Plasma . Originally nebula was a general name for any extended astronomy astronomical object, including galaxy beyond the Milky Way ....
e are found in Cygnus due to its position on the Milky Way. The North America Nebula
North America Nebula

The North America Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus , close to Deneb . The remarkable shape of the emission nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico....
 (NGC
New General Catalogue

The New General Catalogue is a well-known astronomical catalog of deep sky objects in amateur astronomy. It contains 7,840 objects, known as the NGC objects....
 7000) is found a bit to the east of Deneb. Its resemblance to the continent is best appreciated in photographs. The Pelican Nebula
Pelican Nebula

The Pelican Nebula is an H II region associated with the North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus . The emission nebula resembles a pelican in shape, hence the name....
 (IC 5070) is nearby.

To the south of Epsilon Cygni
Epsilon Cygni

Epsilon Cygni is a star in the constellation Cygnus . Its traditional name is Gienah; however, Gamma Corvi has an identical traditional name....
 is the Veil Nebula
Veil Nebula

The Veil Nebula, also known as the Cygnus Loop or the Witch's Broom Nebula, is a large, relatively faint supernova remnant in the constellation Cygnus ....
 (NGC 6960, 6962, 6979, 6992, and 6995) which is an ancient supernova remnant
Supernova remnant

A supernova remnant is the structure resulting from the gigantic explosion of a star in a supernova. The supernova remnant is bounded by an expanding shock wave, and consists of ejected material expanding from the explosion, and the interstellar material it sweeps up and shocks along the way....
 covering approximately 3 degrees of the sky.

Also of note is the Crescent Nebula
Crescent Nebula

The Crescent Nebula is an emission nebula in the Cygnus , about 5000 light years away. It is formed by the fast stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 colliding with and energizing the slower moving wind ejected by the star when it became a red giant around 400,000 years ago....
 (NGC 6888), located between Gamma and Eta Cygni, which was formed by the Wolf-Rayet star
Wolf-Rayet star

Wolf-Rayet stars are evolved, massive stars , which are losing mass rapidly by means of a very strong solar wind, with speeds up to 2000 km/s....
 HD 192163.

More supernova
Supernova

A supernova is a Astronomy#Stellar astronomy explosion. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months....
e have been seen in the Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946) than in any other galaxy
Galaxy

A galaxy is a massive, gravitation system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and cosmic dust, and an important but poorly-understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter....
.

The constellation also contains the X-ray source Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1

Cygnus X-1 is a well known galactic X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus . It was discovered in 1964 during a Sub-orbital spaceflight and is one of the Strong X-ray sources seen from Earth, producing a peak X-ray flux of 2.3 Wattmetre-2Hertz-1....
, which is now known to be caused by a black hole accreting matter in a binary star system. The system is located close to the star Eta Cygni on star charts.

Cygnus Constellation Drawing

History and mythology

The constellation can be represented as looking like a wide winged, long necked bird, in graceful flight . In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, it has been identified with several different legendary swans. Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
 disguised himself as a swan to seduce Leda
Leda (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Leda was daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius, and wife of the king Tyndareus, of Sparta. Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan....
, who gave birth to the Gemini
Castor and Pollux

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux were the twin sons of Leda and Zeus/Tyndareus , the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra and the half-brothers of Timandra , Phoebe, Heracles, Philonoe....
, Helen of Troy, and Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greece kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, she was a femme fatale who murdered her husband, Agamemnon—said by Euripides to be her second husband—and his concubine Cassandra....
; Orpheus
Orpheus

Orpheus was a legendary figure, probably from Thracian origin, venerated by the Greeks and Thracians of the Classical age as a chief among poets and musicians, and the perfector of the lyre invented by Hermes....
 was transformed into a swan after his murder, and was said to have been placed in the sky next to his lyre
Lyre

The lyre is a string instrument well known for its use in classical antiquity and later. The recitations of the Ancient Greece were accompanied by lyre playing....
 (Lyra
Lyra

Lyra is a constellation. Its name derived from the lyre, a string instrument well known for its use in classical antiquity and later. Lyra was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union today....
); and the King Cycnus
Cycnus

In Greek mythology, four people were known as Cycnus or Cygnus . Most of them ended up being transformed into swans. The most famous Cycnus however, was the son of Ares....
 was transformed into a swan.

In Ovid
Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
's Metamorphoses, there are three people named Cygnus, all of whom are transformed into swans. Alongside Cycnus, noted above, he mentions a boy from Tempe
Vale of Tempe

The Vale of Tempe , celebrated by Greek poets as a favorite haunt of Apollo and the Muses, is the ancient name of a gorge in northern Thessaly, Greece, located between Mount Olympus to the north and Mount Ossa to the south....
 who commits suicide when Phyllius refuses to give him a tamed bull that he demands, but is transformed into a swan and flies away. He also mentions a son of Neptune
NEPTUNE

=Overview=The project, along with sister project, VENUS, offers a unique approach to ocean science. Traditionally, ocean scientists have relied on infrequent ship cruises or space-based satellites to carry out their research....
 who is an invulnerable warrior in the Trojan War
Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
 who is eventually defeated by Achilles
Achilles

In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greeks hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad, which takes for its theme ; the Wrath of Achilles....
, but Neptune saves him by transforming him into a swan.

Cygnus, together with other constellations in the Zodiac
Zodiac

Zodiac denotes an annual cycle of twelve stations along the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the heavens through the constellations that divide the ecliptic into twelve equal zones of celestial longitude....
 sign of Sagittarius
Sagittarius (astrology)

Sagittarius is the ninth astrological sign in the Zodiac, originating from the Sagittarius . In western astrology, the sign is no longer aligned with the constellation as a result of the Precession ....
 (specifically Lyra
Lyra

Lyra is a constellation. Its name derived from the lyre, a string instrument well known for its use in classical antiquity and later. Lyra was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union today....
 and Aquila
Aquila (constellation)

Aquila is a constellation. Its name is Latin for 'eagle' and it is commonly represented as such. It lies roughly at the celestial equator. The alpha star, Altair, is a vertex of the Summer Triangle asterism ....
, together with Sagittarius
Sagittarius (constellation)

Sagittarius is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for the archer, and its symbol is , a stylized arrow. Sagittarius is commonly represented as a centaur drawing a bow....
 itself), may be a significant part of the origin of the myth of the Stymphalian Birds
Stymphalian birds

In Greek mythology, the Stymphalian birds were man-eating birds with wings of brass and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims, and were pets of Ares, the god of war....
, one of The Twelve Labours of Heracles
Heracles

In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles meaning "glory of Hera", or "Glorious through Hera" Alcides or Alcaeus " was a hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus....
.

In Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology

File:Nine-Dragons1.jpgChinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written form....
, the constellation Cygnus is the site of the once-a-year magpie
Magpie

Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family , Corvidae. The names 'jay' and 'magpie' are to a certain extent interchangeable, although this does not accurately reflect the evolutionary relationship between these birds....
 bridge (??, Que Qiao) which connects the lovers Niu Lang and Zhi Nu (see Qi Xi
Qi Xi

Qi Xi , also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar; thus its name. It also inspired Tanabata in Japan, Chilseok in Korea, and That Tich in Vietnam....
).

Musical references


Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica

Sonata Arctica is a Finland power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1996. Their later works contain some elements typical of progressive metal....
's song "Fly With The Black Swan," The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock group formed in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodr?guez-L?pez and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. They incorporate various influences including punk rock, jazz fusion, funk and Latin American music into their sound....
's song "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus," and Rush
Rush (band)

Rush is a Canadian Rock music band originally formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale, Toronto neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, currently composed of bass guitar, keyboard instrument, and singer Geddy Lee; electric guitar Alex Lifeson; and drum kit and lyricist Neil Peart....
's song "Cygnus X-1" are references to Cygnus.

See also

  • Asterism
    Asterism (astronomy)

    In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars seen in Earth's sky which is not an official constellation. Like constellations, they are composed of stars which, while they are in the same general direction, are not physically related, often being at significantly different distances from Earth....
  • Cygnus Loop


External links