Constellation Cygnus (Swan)

Properties

Cygnus is a very showy and beautiful summer constellation. Its brightest stars form a figure that one can associate with the corresponding shape of the swan without much imagination. The tail of the swan sailing across the Milky Way is marked by Deneb, its head by Albireo and the two wings by delta and epsilon Cygni. Cygnus lies in a star-rich region of the Milky Way, which appears to be divided into two parts by an extensive dark cloud on dark nights. Deneb, the main star, is a corner point of the famous summer triangle, which is completed by Atair and Wega. The constellation Cygnus extends over an area of 804 square degrees in the sky and the center culminates around midnight on July 29th. ^{[9, 15]}

Stars with Proper Names:

α Cyg: Deneb, Deneb Cygni, Deneb El Adige, Arided, Aridif, Gallina, Arrioph
β¹ Cyg: Albireo
γ Cyg: Sadr, Sador, Sadir
ε Cyg: Gienah Cygni, Gienah
π¹ Cyg: Azelfafage

Data for constellation Cygnus ^[150]
IAU Name	Cygnus
IAU Genitive	Cygni
IAU Abbr.	Cyg
English Name	Swan
Season (47° N)	March … December
Right Ascension	19^h 07^m 30^s … 22^h 03^m 03^s
Declination	+27° 43' 57" … +61° 21' 28"
Area	804 deg²
Neighbours (N↻)	Cep, Dra, Lyr, Vul, Peg, Lac

Deep-Sky Object Descriptions

Mythology and History

In Greek mythology, Cyknos (Cygnus) was a musician king and a devoted friend of Phaethon, the son of the sun god Helios. One day Phaethon persuaded his father to let him lead the sun chariot across the sky, but then he lost control of the horses and wreaked havoc on heaven and earth. The king of the gods, Zeus, hurled one of his thunderbolts at Phaethon, killing him instantly. His still smoldering body fell into the river Eridanus. Kyknos jumped into the river, swam back and forth and kept diving to find his friend's body. It was said that it looked like a swan swimming in the water, diving for food. Helios looked on sadly and picked up his son's loyal friend and sat him on a place between the stars in the firmament. ^[71]

In another version of this myth, Cygnus wandered in a poplar grove on the bank of the Eridanus River, mourning the death of his friend. In the end, the gods pitied him so much that they turned him into a swan of stars. Since then it has been said that swans sang sad songs when they are about to die. This is the origin of the expression "swan song", which denotes the last work of a musician or poet before his death. ^[71]

At another time and place in Greek mythology, Zeus slipped into the shape of a swan in order to be able to approach Leda, the wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta, who was bathing her lovely body in the river. The immortal children of Leda, who had Zeus for their father, were Helena and Pollux. The mortal children she bore to her husband Tyndareus were Castor and Clytemnestra. ^{[7, 20]}

In Arabia, the constellation has been seen as a flying bird. In Christian symbolism it was interpreted as the crux of Christ, the cross on Calvary and the northern cross. ^{[20, 54]}

Catalogs

Yale Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed. (Hoffleit+, 1991) ^[154]
HR	B	F	RA [hms]	Dec [dms]	vMag	spType	dMag	Sep ["]
7328	κ	1	19 17 06.2	+53 22 07	3.77	G9III
7372		2	19 24 07.6	+29 37 17	4.97	B3IV
7395		4	19 26 09.1	+36 19 04	5.15	B9pSi
7408	ι¹	7	19 27 25.9	+52 19 14	5.75	A1V
7417	β¹	6	19 30 43.3	+27 57 35	3.08	K3II+B9.5V	2.0	34.7
7418	β²	6	19 30 45.3	+27 57 55	5.11	B8Ve	2.0	34.7
7420	ι²	10	19 29 42.3	+51 43 47	3.79	A5Vn
7426		8	19 31 46.3	+34 27 11	4.74	B3IV
7441		9	19 34 50.9	+29 27 47	5.38	F8III+A0V	0.5	0.1
7457		11	19 35 48.3	+36 56 40	6.05	B8Vne
7469	θ	13	19 36 26.5	+50 13 16	4.48	F4V	6.9	48.4
7478	φ	12	19 39 22.6	+30 09 12	4.69	G8III-IV		0.0
7483		14	19 39 26.5	+42 49 06	5.40	B9III
7503		16	19 41 48.9	+50 31 31	5.96	G1.5Vb	0.2	39.2
7517		15	19 44 16.6	+37 21 16	4.89	G7+III
7528	δ	18	19 44 58.5	+45 07 51	2.87	B9.5IV+F1V	3.5	2.0
7534		17	19 46 25.6	+33 43 40	4.99	F7V	3.5	26.0
7564	χ		19 50 33.9	+32 54 51	4.23	S6+/1e v	5.2	158.0
7566		19	19 50 34.0	+38 43 21	5.12	M2IIIa	6.4	55.5
7576		20	19 50 37.7	+52 59 17	5.03	K3IIICN1
7608		23	19 53 17.4	+57 31 25	5.14	B5V
7613		22	19 55 51.7	+38 29 12	4.94	B5IV
7615	η	21	19 56 18.4	+35 05 00	3.89	K0III	7.7	46.0
7619	ψ	24	19 55 37.8	+52 26 20	4.92	A4Vn	2.3	3.1
7647		25	19 59 55.2	+37 02 34	5.19	B3IVe
7660		26	20 01 21.6	+50 06 17	5.05	K1II-III	3.8	41.8
7689		27	20 06 21.8	+35 58 21	5.36	K0IV	4.0	11.9
7708		28	20 09 25.6	+36 50 23	4.93	B2.5Ve v
7730		30	20 13 18.0	+46 48 57	4.83	A5IIIn	1.0	337.5
7735		31	20 13 37.9	+46 44 29	3.79	K2II+B3V	1.0	337.5
7736		29	20 14 32.0	+36 48 23	4.97	A2V	1.6	212.4
7740		33	20 13 23.9	+56 34 04	4.30	A3IV-Vn
7751		32	20 15 28.3	+47 42 52	3.98	K3Ib+B3V	5.5	208.9
7763		34	20 17 47.2	+38 01 59	4.81	B2pe
7769		36	20 18 28.6	+37 00 00	5.58	A2V
7770		35	20 18 39.1	+34 58 58	5.17	F5Ib
7796	γ	37	20 22 13.7	+40 15 24	2.20	F8Ib	8.5	141.2
7806		39	20 23 51.7	+32 11 24	4.43	K2.5IIIFe-0.5
7826		40	20 27 34.3	+38 26 25	5.62	A3V
7828		43	20 27 02.3	+49 23 00	5.69	dF0
7834		41	20 29 23.7	+30 22 07	4.01	F5II
7835		42	20 29 20.4	+36 27 17	5.88	A1Ib
7844	ω¹	45	20 30 03.5	+48 57 06	4.95	B2.5IV	7.0	56.3
7847		44	20 30 59.2	+36 56 09	6.19	F5Iab	3.4	2.0
7851	ω²	46	20 31 18.8	+49 13 13	5.44	M2IIIab	4.7	56.8
7866		47	20 33 54.2	+35 15 03	4.61	K2Ib+B3V	5.6	117.6
7885		48	20 37 31.8	+31 34 21	6.32	B8IIIn	0.1	180.8
7921		49	20 41 02.6	+32 18 26	5.51	G8IIb	2.3	2.5
7924	α	50	20 41 25.9	+45 16 49	1.25	A2Ia t	10.0	75.4
7929		51	20 42 12.6	+50 20 24	5.39	B2V	6.0	3.0
7942		52	20 45 39.7	+30 43 11	4.22	G9.5III	5.0	6.1
7949	ε	53	20 46 12.7	+33 58 13	2.46	K0-III	9.3	54.9
7963	λ	54	20 47 24.5	+36 29 27	4.53	B5Ve	1.3	0.9
7977		55	20 48 56.3	+46 06 51	4.84	B3Ia e	6.3	21.3
7984		56	20 50 04.9	+44 03 34	5.04	A4mDel Del	6.0	75.5
8001		57	20 53 14.8	+44 23 14	4.78	B5V
8028	ν	58	20 57 10.4	+41 10 02	3.94	A1Vn
8047		59	20 59 49.6	+47 31 16	4.74	B1ne v	4.4	20.1
8053		60	21 01 10.9	+46 09 21	5.37	B1Ve v	4.5	2.6
8079	ξ	62	21 04 55.9	+43 55 40	3.72	K4.5Ib-II e
8085		61	21 06 54.6	+38 44 45	5.21	K5V	0.8	28.7
8086		61	21 06 55.3	+38 44 36	6.03	K7V	0.8	28.7
8089		63	21 06 36.1	+47 38 54	4.55	K4Ib-IIa	8.3	15.7
8115	ζ	64	21 12 56.2	+30 13 37	3.20	G8+III-IIIaBa0.6	7.9	91.2
8130	τ	65	21 14 47.5	+38 02 44	3.72	F2IV	2.5	1.0
8143	σ	67	21 17 25.0	+39 23 41	4.23	B9Iab v
8146	υ	66	21 17 55.1	+34 53 49	4.43	B2Vne	6.4	15.3
8154		68	21 18 27.2	+43 56 45	5.00	O7.5III:n((f)) e
8209		69	21 25 47.0	+36 40 03	5.94	B0Ib	5.3	53.4
8215		70	21 27 21.4	+37 07 00	5.31	B3V
8228		71	21 29 27.0	+46 32 26	5.24	K0-III
8252	ρ	73	21 33 58.9	+45 35 31	4.02	G8IIIFe-0.5
8255		72	21 34 46.6	+38 32 03	4.90	K0.5III
8266		74	21 36 57.0	+40 24 49	5.01	A5V
8284		75	21 40 11.1	+43 16 26	5.11	M1IIIab	4.2	57.9
8291		76	21 41 34.3	+40 48 19	6.11	A2V	4.0	62.1
8300		77	21 42 22.9	+41 04 38	5.69	A0V	0.2	0.1
8301	π¹	80	21 42 05.7	+51 11 23	4.67	B3IV
8307		79	21 43 25.7	+38 17 02	5.65 R	A0V	1.3	151.2
8309	μ¹	78	21 44 08.6	+28 44 34	4.73 H	F6V	1.3	2.0
8310	μ²	78	21 44 08.3	+28 44 35	6.08 H	G2V	1.3	2.0
8335	π²	81	21 46 47.6	+49 18 34	4.23	B3III

Revised+Historic NGC/IC, Version 22/9, © Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke ^[277]
Planetary Nebulae
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 6766	20 10 23.7	+46 27 42	PN	12.6	10.9	0.25	planetary, stellar	NGC 6884, PK 82+7.1, CS=15.6
NGC 6826	19 44 48.2	+50 31 32	PN	9.8	8.8	0.6	planetary, B, pL, R, * 11 M	PK 83+12.1, CS=10.4, Blinking planetary
NGC 6833	19 49 46.6	+48 57 42	PN	13.8	12.1	0.18	planetary, stellar	PK 82+11.1, CS=14.8
NGC 6881	20 10 52.5	+37 24 44	PN	14.3	13.9	0.27	planetary, stellar	PK 74+2.1, CS=16.7
NGC 6894	20 16 24.0	+30 33 57	PN	14.4	12.3	0.92	!!, Ring, F, S, vvlE	PK 69-2.1, CS=15.8
NGC 7008	21 00 32.8	+54 32 38	PN	13.3	10.7	1.43	cB, L, E 45° ±, r, ** att	PK 93+5.2, CS=12.3
NGC 7026	21 06 18.6	+47 51 10	PN	12.7	10.9	0.75	pB, biN, planetary	PK 89+0.1, CS=14.5
NGC 7027	21 07 01.7	+42 14 12	PN	10.4	8.5	0.3 × 0.2	planetary, stellar = 8.5 m	PK 84-3.1, CS=16.3
NGC 7048	21 14 15.2	+46 17 21	PN	11.3	12.1	1.02	pF, pL, dif, iR, vlbM	PK 88-1.1, CS=18.3
IC 5117	21 32 31.0	+44 35 50	PN	13.3	11.5	0.2	Planetary, stellar	PK 89-5.1, CS=17.2
Galactic Nebulae
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 6857	20 01 48.0	+33 31 30	EN	11.4		0.63	F, am Milky Way st	PK 70+1.2, Sh2-100, not a PN
NGC 6888	20 12 06.5	+38 21 18	EN	10.0		18 × 13	F, vL, vmE, ** att	LBN 203, Sh2-105, Crescent nebula
NGC 6914	20 24 43.0	+42 29 00	RN			3 × 3	vF, vL, iR, dif, 2 st att p	LBN 274
NGC 6960	20 45 42.0	+30 43 00	SNR	7.0		70 × 6	!! pB, cL, eiF, κ Cygni inv	LBN 191, Veil nebula
NGC 6974	20 51 04.0	+31 49 54	SNR				Neb *, neby cE pf	knot in Veil nebula
NGC 6979	20 50 30.0	+32 01 36	SNR			7 × 3	vF, S, iE, sev F st f nr	part of Veil nebula
NGC 6992	20 56 18.0	+31 44 30	SNR	7.0		60 × 8	!!, eF, eL, eE, eiF, bifurcated	CED 182B, Veil nebula
NGC 6995	20 57 10.0	+31 14 00	SNR	7.0		12 × 12	F, eL, neb & st in groups	CED 182C, Veil nebula
NGC 7000	20 59 18.0	+44 31 00	EN	4.0	5.0	120 × 100	F, eeL, dif nebulosity	LBN 373, North America nebula
IC 1318	20 22 14.0	+40 15 24	EN			50 × 30	γ Cygni, surrounded by L patches of F neby	LBN 245, part of Gamma Cyg nebula
IC 1318 A	20 16 36.0	+41 49 00	EN			50 × 20	γ Cygni, surrounded by L patches of F neby	LBN 251, part of Gamma Cyg nebula
IC 1318 B	20 27 54.0	+40 00 00	EN	14.9		45 × 30	γ Cygni, surrounded by L patches of F neby	part of Gamma Cyg nebula
IC 1340	20 56 08.0	+31 02 54	SNR			25 × 20	Possibly conn with h 2093	part of Veil nebula
IC 5067	20 47 50.0	+44 22 00	EN	8.0		25 × 10	F	LBN 353, CED 183A, Pelican nebula
IC 5068	20 50 30.0	+42 28 42	EN			40 × 30	vF	LBN 328, CED 183B
IC 5070	20 51 00.0	+44 24 06	EN	8.0		60 × 50	F, dif	LBN 350, CED 183C, Pelican nebula
IC 5076	20 55 33.0	+47 23 42	RN			9 × 7	vF, vL, lE ns, st inv	LBN 394, CED 185
IC 5146	21 53 24.0	+47 16 00	EN+OCL			10 × 10	pB, vL, iF, * 9.5 in M	OCL 213, LBN 424, Cocoon nebula
Open Clusters
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 6811	19 37 09.6	+46 22 32	IV3p		6.8	15	Cl, L, pRi, lC, st 11…14	OCL 185
NGC 6819	19 41 18.0	+40 11 00	I1r		7.3	5	Cl, vL, vRi, st 11…15	OCL 155
NGC 6834	19 52 12.5	+29 24 29	II2m		7.8	6	Cl, P, lC, st 11…12	OCL 134
NGC 6846	19 56 28.1	+32 20 55	IV1p		14.2	0.8	eF, vS, 3 st inv	OCL 139
NGC 6866	20 03 55.1	+44 09 33	II2m	8.0	7.6	7	Cl, L, vRi, cC	OCL 183
NGC 6871	20 06 27.0	+35 47 24	IV3p		5.2	30	Cl, st L and S, ** inv	OCL 148
NGC 6874	20 07 48.0	+38 14 00	IV1m			7	Cl, P, lC	OCL 157.1, *Grp ?
NGC 6883	20 11 18.0	+35 51 00	I3p		8.0	35	Cl, pRi, ** inv	OCL 152
NGC 6910	20 23 12.0	+40 46 43	I2p		7.4	10	Cl, pB, pS, P, pC, st 10…12	OCL 181
NGC 6913	20 24 06.0	+38 29 36	III3p		6.6	10	Cl, P, lC, st L and S	M 29, OCL 168
NGC 6991 1	20 55 50.0	+47 25 10	OCL			10	Cl, L, P, vlC	WH's cluster
NGC 6991 2	20 54 43.5	+47 16 54	OCL			8	Cl, L, P, vlC	JH's cluster
NGC 6996	20 56 30.0	+45 28 24	III2p		10.0	5	Cl, P, lC	OCL 197, in Milky Way
NGC 6997	20 56 30.0	+44 39 00	III2p		10.0	8	Cl, P, lC, st L	OCL 197
NGC 7031	21 06 52.0	+50 50 36	IV1p		9.1	15	Cl of triple st, lC	OCL 210
NGC 7039	21 11 12.0	+45 39 00	III2p		7.6	15	Cl, vL, pRi, E, st 10…	OCL 203
NGC 7044	21 13 09.4	+42 29 46	II2r		12.0	7	Cl, vF, pL, vRi, vC, st 15…18	OCL 198
NGC 7062	21 23 27.4	+46 22 43	III1p		8.3	5	Cl, pS, pRi, pC, st 13…	OCL 205
NGC 7063	21 24 22.0	+36 29 12	III2p		7.0	9	Cl, P, st 10…	OCL 192
NGC 7067	21 24 12.3	+48 00 41	II2p		9.7	3	Cl, P, ? Neb	OCL 208
NGC 7082	21 29 17.0	+47 07 36	IV2p		7.2	24	Cl, L, cRi, lC, st 10…13	OCL 209
NGC 7086	21 30 27.5	+51 36 02	II2m		8.4	12	Cl, cL, vRi, pC, st 11…16	OCL 214
NGC 7092	21 31 52.0	+48 25 30	III2p		4.6	31	Cl, vL, vP, vlC, st 7…10	M 39, OCL 211
NGC 7127	21 43 52.9	+54 35 46	IV1p			6	Cl, S, P, lC	OCL 219
NGC 7128	21 43 57.7	+53 42 55	II3m		9.7	4	Cl, S, pRi, has a ruby * 9.5	OCL 218
IC 1310	20 10 01.0	+34 58 06	II1p			3	F neby	OCL 147, Berkeley 50, in LBN 181?
IC 1311	20 10 48.0	+41 10 24	II3rn		13.1	5	eF, within circle of st	OCL 173, COU 45, URA 50
IC 1369	21 12 09.0	+47 46 00	I1m		8.8	5	S neb Cl of st 13m	OCL 204
IC 4996	20 16 31.7	+37 38 35	II3p		7.3	7	Cl, st 8...13 (M.N., lxiv.)	OCL 158
Galaxies
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 6764	19 08 16.6	+50 55 59	SBbc	12.6	11.9	2.2 × 1.2	pF, pL, mE, sev vF st inv	UGC 11407, MCG 8-35-3, CGCG 256-7, IRAS 19070+5051
NGC 6783	19 16 47.5	+46 01 05	C	15.4	14.4	0.6 × 0.6	eF, diffic	MCG 8-35-7, CGCG 256-13
NGC 6798	19 24 03.1	+53 37 27	S0	14.2	13.2	1.6 × 0.9	F, vS, R, * v nr	IC 1300, UGC 11434, MCG 9-32-2, CGCG 281-1
NGC 6801	19 27 35.9	+54 22 21	Sc	14.6	13.9	1.3 × 0.7	eF, pS, R, F * s nr	UGC 11443, MCG 9-32-5, CGCG 281-3, IRAS 19264+5416
NGC 6824	19 43 40.5	+56 06 32	Sab	13.0	12.2	1.9 × 1.4	pB, iF, bM	UGC 11470, MCG 9-32-12, CGCG 281-8, IRAS 19426+5559
NGC 6916	20 23 33.1	+58 20 39	SBbc	14.3	13.5	1.8 × 1.2	eeF, pS, F * close p, v diffic	UGC 11554, MCG 10-29-4, CGCG 304-4, IRAS 20224+5810
NGC 6946	20 34 52.1	+60 09 12	SBc	9.6	8.8	11.5 × 9.8	vF, vL, vg, vsbM, rr	UGC 11597, MCG 10-29-6, CGCG 304-6, Arp 29, IRAS 20338+5958
NGC 7013	21 03 33.6	+29 53 49	S0-a	12.4	11.3	4 × 1.4	pB, cS, R, psbM, pB * np	UGC 11670, MCG 5-49-1, CGCG 491-2, IRAS 21014+2941
NGC 7116	21 42 40.4	+28 56 48	Sbc	14.2	13.4	1.1 × 0.4	vF, pL, mE	UGC 11796, MCG 5-51-1, CGCG 493-5
IC 1301	19 26 31.9	+50 07 33	S0-a	14.2	13.3	1.2 × 0.7	eeF, vS, R, 3 st f	IC 4867, UGC 11437, MCG 8-35-10, CGCG 256-17, KCPG 539A, NPM1G +50.0429
IC 1302	19 30 52.8	+35 47 06	SBc	14.1	13.4	0.9 × 0.4	vF, undefined	MCG 6-43-2, IRAS 19290+3540
IC 1303	19 31 30.2	+35 52 33	Sc	15.0	14.3	1.3 × 0.8	vF, S, with S Cl	UGC 11452, MCG 6-43-4, IRAS 19296+3546
IC 1392	21 35 32.6	+35 23 55	E-S0	13.0	12.0	1.1 × 0.7	pB, vmbM *	UGC 11772, MCG 6-47-3, CGCG 512-6

References

7	«Der grosse Kosmos-Himmelsführer» von Ian Ridpath und Wil Tirion; Kosmos Verlag; ISBN 3-440-05787-9
9	«Drehbare Sternkarte SIRIUS» von H. Suter-Haug; Hallwag-Verlag, Bern
15	«Hartung's Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes» by David Malin and David J. Frew; Melbourne University Press 1995; ISBN 0-522-84553-3
20	«Sternbilder und ihre Mythen» von Gerhard Fasching; Zweite, verbesserte Auflage; Springer Verlag Wien, New York; ISBN 3-211-82552-5 (Wien); ISBN 0-387-82552-5 (New York)
54	Eye On The Sky: Cygnus by Deborah Byrd; Astronomy 8/92, p.48
71	The Starry Sky: Cygnus by Deborah Byrd; Astronomy 7/94, p.52
150	IAU: The Constellations, 11. Oktober 2020; iau.org/public/themes/constellations
154	Yale Bright Star Catalog, 15. Oktober 2020; tdc-www.harvard.edu/catalogs/bsc5.html
277	«Historische Deep-Sky Kataloge» von Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke; klima-luft.de/steinicke (2021-02-17)