Cygnus Constellation: All you need to know about the 'Celestial Swan'

SCIENCE

BY CHRISTOPHER MCFADDEN

iStock

SCIENCE

NASA

Cygnus is one of the most well-known constellations in the northern summer and fall and has a prominent asterism called the Northern Cross.

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Richard Crisp

This feature is so prominent that the entire constellation is also known as the "Northern Cross."

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ESA/Hubble & NASA, I. Karachentsev et al.


Cygnus is one of the 88 "official" constellations that are visible today.

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It was one of the 48 constellations that the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy recorded.

Theodor de Bry
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Forming one corner of the Summer Triangle and one of the brightest stars in the night sky, the star Deneb is found in Cygnus.

A. Fujii
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A few noteworthy X-ray sources, including the massive star association Cygnus OB2, are also found in Cygnus.

Nick Wright solarseven/iStock
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Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Apache Point Observatory, Astrophysical Research Consortium


The constellation is also home to one of the biggest stars currently known, NML Cygni.

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NASA/CXC


Cygnus X-1, a far-off X-ray source with an undetected huge supergiant companion and which was the first object that is widely believed to be a black hole, is likewise located in the constellation.

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