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Cygnus (constellation)
Encyclopedia
Cygnus is a northern constellation
lying on the plane of the Milky Way
. Its name is the Latin
ized Hellenic
(Greek
) word for swan
. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism
known as the Northern Cross (in contrast to the Southern Cross). Cygnus was among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy
, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.
(β Cygni, designated by the Greek letter β in the diagram), a double star with blue and yellow components is at the swan's "head". Deneb
(α Cygni), its brightest star, is at the tail and is one star of the summer triangle
.
s and nebula
e are found in Cygnus due to its position on the Milky Way. The North America Nebula
(NGC
7000) is found a bit to the east of Deneb. Its resemblance to the continent is best appreciated in photographs. The Pelican Nebula
(IC 5070) is nearby.
To the south of Epsilon Cygni
is the Veil Nebula
(NGC 6960, 6962, 6979, 6992, and 6995) which is an ancient supernova remnant
covering approximately 3 degrees of the sky.
Also of note is the Crescent Nebula
(NGC 6888), located between Gamma and Eta Cygni, which was formed by the Wolf-Rayet star
HD 192163
.
More supernova
e have been seen in the Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946) than in any other galaxy
.
The constellation also contains the X-ray source Cygnus X-1
, which is now thought 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.
s including HAT-P-7b
, HAT-P-11b
, HD 185269 b
, HD 187123 b
and c
, Gliese 777 b
and c
, and 16 Cygni Bb
, have been discovered in Cygnus. In January 2010 the Kepler Mission
announced the discovery of the additional planets Kepler-5b
and Kepler-6b
, which are expected to be the first of many discovered by the mission, which has a significant part of its field of view in Cygnus.
In Greek mythology
, Cygnus has been identified with several different legendary swans. Zeus
disguised himself as a swan to seduce Leda
, who gave birth to the Gemini
, Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra
; Orpheus
was transformed into a swan after his murder, and was said to have been placed in the sky next to his lyre
(Lyra
); and the King Cycnus
was transformed into a swan.
In Ovid
'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
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 who is an invulnerable warrior in the Trojan War
who is eventually defeated by Achilles
, but Neptune saves him by transforming him into a swan.
Cygnus, together with other avian
constellations near the summer solstice
, Vultur cadens and Aquila
, may be a significant part of the origin of the myth of the Stymphalian Birds
, one of The Twelve Labours of Hercules
.
, the stars of Cygnus are located within the Black Tortoise of the North
(北方玄武, Běi Fāng Xuán Wǔ). In Chinese mythology
, the area of Cygnus is the site of the once-a-year magpie
bridge (鹊桥, Que Qiao) which connects the lovers Niu Lang and Zhi Nu (see Qi Xi
).
's song Cygnus-A
, The Mars Volta
's song Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus
, the Cygnus X-1 duology by Rush
, and throughout The Lonely Forest
's concept album Nuclear Winter
, all include references to Cygnus.
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
lying on the plane of the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
. Its name is the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
ized Hellenic
Hellenic
Hellenic is a synonym for Greek and may refer to:* Hellenic languages* Hellenic Airlines* Hellenic College, a liberal arts college in Brookline, Massachusetts* Hellenic College of London* Hellenic FC, a football club in South Africa...
(Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
) word for swan
Swan
Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism
Asterism (astronomy)
In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars recognized on Earth's night sky. It may form part of an official constellation, or be composed of stars from more than one. Like constellations, asterisms are in most cases composed of stars which, while they are visible in the same general direction,...
known as the Northern Cross (in contrast to the Southern Cross). Cygnus was among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.
Stars
AlbireoAlbireo
Albireo is the fifth brightest star in the constellation Cygnus. Although it has the Bayer designation beta, it is fainter than Gamma Cygni, Delta Cygni, and Epsilon Cygni. Albireo appears to the naked eye to be a single star of magnitude 3 but through a telescope, even low magnification views...
(β Cygni, designated by the Greek letter β in the diagram), a double star with blue and yellow components is at the swan's "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 brightest star in the night sky, with an apparent magnitude of 1.25. A blue-white supergiant, Deneb is also one of the most luminous nearby stars...
(α Cygni), 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, being the brightest stars in the three constellations of Aquila, Cygnus, and Lyra.The English term was...
.
Deep sky objects
Several star clusterStar cluster
Star clusters or star clouds are groups of stars. Two types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of hundreds of thousands of very old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters, more loosely clustered groups of stars, generally contain less than...
s and nebula
Nebula
A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas and other ionized gases...
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 of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars is a well-known catalogue of deep sky objects in 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 gaseous contortions of this emission nebula bear a resemblance to a pelican, giving rise to its name...
(IC 5070) is nearby.
To the south of Epsilon Cygni
Epsilon Cygni
Epsilon Cygni is a star in the constellation Cygnus . It is also called Gienah, a traditional name it shares with Gamma Corvi...
is the Veil Nebula
Veil Nebula
The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop , a large but relatively faint supernova remnant...
(NGC 6960, 6962, 6979, 6992, and 6995) which is an ancient supernova remnant
Supernova remnant
A supernova remnant is the structure resulting from the 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.There are two...
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 constellation 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 stellar wind, with speeds up to 2000 km/s...
HD 192163
WR 136
WR 136, a Wolf–Rayet star.-References:* http://jumk.de/astronomie/big-stars/wr-136.shtml* http://www.springerlink.com/content/04205412121836v4/* http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/ngc6888/* http://www.giga-parsec.de/WRspectra.html...
.
More supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. 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, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
.
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 rocket flight and is one of the strongest X-ray sources seen from Earth, producing a peak X-ray flux density of 2.3 Wm−2Hz−1...
, which is now thought 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.
Extrasolar planets
Several extrasolar planetExtrasolar planet
An extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is a planet outside the Solar System. A total of such planets have been identified as of . It is now known that a substantial fraction of stars have planets, including perhaps half of all Sun-like stars...
s including HAT-P-7b
HAT-P-7b
HAT-P-7b is an extrasolar planet discovered in 2008. It orbits very close to its parent star GSC 03547-01402, and is both larger and more massive than Jupiter. Due to the extreme heat it receives from its star, the dayside temperature is predicted to be 2730 K...
, HAT-P-11b
HAT-P-11b
HAT-P-11b is an extrasolar planet orbiting the star HAT-P-11. This planet was discovered by the transit method and submitted for publication on January 2, 2009....
, HD 185269 b
HD 185269 b
HD 185269 b is a hot Jupiter extrasolar planet approximately 153 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus. The minimum mass is slightly less than Jupiter and the orbital period is about one week...
, HD 187123 b
HD 187123 b
HD 187123 b is a typical "hot Jupiter" located approximately 156 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus, orbiting the star HD 187123. It has a mass about half that of Jupiter and it orbits in a very tight, round orbit around the star every three days...
and c
HD 187123 c
HD 187123 c is an extrasolar planet located approximately 156 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus, orbiting the star HD 187123. This planet was discovered in 1998 and published in 2006. The radius of the planet's orbit is 4.80 AU, 113 times more distant from the star than first...
, Gliese 777 b
Gliese 777 b
Gliese 777 b, also known as Gliese 777 Ab or HD 190360 b, is an extrasolar planet approximately 52 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. The planet was discovered orbiting the primary star of the Gliese 777 system in June 2002 using the radial velocity method...
and c
Gliese 777 c
Gliese 777 c, often catalogued as Gliese 777 Ac or simply HD 190360 c, is an extrasolar planet approximately 52 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. The planet was discovered orbiting the primary star of the Gliese 777 system in June 2005 using the radial velocity method...
, and 16 Cygni Bb
16 Cygni Bb
16 Cygni Bb or 16 Cyg Bb is an extrasolar planet approximately 70 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. The planet was discovered orbiting the sun-like star 16 Cygni B, one of two solar-mass components of the triple star system 16 Cygni...
, have been discovered in Cygnus. In January 2010 the Kepler Mission
Kepler Mission
The Kepler spacecraft is an American space observatory, the space-based portion of NASA's Kepler Mission to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. The spacecraft is named in honor of the 17th-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler...
announced the discovery of the additional planets Kepler-5b
Kepler-5b
Kepler-5b is one of the first five planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. It is a Hot Jupiter that orbits a subgiant star that is more massive, larger, and more diffuse than the Sun is...
and Kepler-6b
Kepler-6b
Kepler-6b is an extrasolar planet in the orbit of the unusually metal-rich Kepler-6, a star in the field of view of the NASA-operated Kepler spacecraft, which searches for planets that cross directly in front of, or transit, their host stars. It was the third planet to be discovered by Kepler....
, which are expected to be the first of many discovered by the mission, which has a significant part of its field of view in Cygnus.
History and mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, Cygnus has been identified with several different legendary swans. Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
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 and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...
, Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra or Clytaemnestra , in ancient Greek legend, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greek 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 the Trojan princess...
; Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
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 stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
(Lyra
Lyra
Lyra is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Its principal star, Vega — a corner of the Summer Triangle — is one of the brightest...
); 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.-Son of Ares:Cycnus was sired upon Pelopia or Pyrene...
was transformed into a swan.
In Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
'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 is a gorge in northern Thessaly, Greece, located between Olympus to the north and Ossa to the south. The valley is 10 kilometers long and as narrow as 25 meters in places, with cliffs nearly 500 meters high, and through it flows the Pineios River on its way to the Aegean Sea...
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 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 took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
who is eventually defeated by Achilles
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
, but Neptune saves him by transforming him into a swan.
Cygnus, together with other avian
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
constellations near the summer solstice
Summer solstice
The summer solstice occurs exactly when the axial tilt of a planet's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the star that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt to our star, the Sun, during a solstice is 23° 26'. Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also...
, Vultur cadens and Aquila
Aquila (constellation)
Aquila is a stellar constellation. Its name is Latin for 'eagle' and it is commonly represented as such. In mythology, Aquila was owned by the Roman god Jupiter and performed many tasks for him....
, 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 beaks of bronze and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims, and were sacred to Ares, the god of war. Furthermore, their dung was highly toxic...
, one of The Twelve Labours of Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
.
Equivalents
In Chinese astronomyChinese astronomy
Astronomy in China has a very long history, with historians considering that "they [the Chinese] were the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena anywhere in the world before the Arabs."...
, the stars of Cygnus are located within the Black Tortoise of the North
Black Tortoise (Chinese constellation)
The Black Tortoise is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the Black Warrior of the North , and is known as Xuanwu in Chinese, Genbu in Japanese, Hyeonmu in Korean and Huyền Vũ in Vietnamese. It represents the north and the winter season...
(北方玄武, Běi Fāng Xuán Wǔ). In Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...
, the area of Cygnus is the site of the once-a-year magpie
Magpie
Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family, Corvidae.In Europe, "magpie" is often used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie, as there are no other magpies in Europe outside Iberia...
bridge (鹊桥, Que Qiao) which connects the lovers Niu Lang and Zhi Nu (see Qi Xi
Qi Xi
Qixi Festival , also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar; thus its name. It inspired Tanabata in Japan, Chilseok in Korea, and Thất Tịch in Vietnam...
).
Musical references
Biosphere (musician)Biosphere (musician)
Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen , a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his "ambient techno" and "arctic ambient" styles, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His track "Novelty...
's song Cygnus-A
Microgravity (album)
Microgravity is the debut album by Biosphere, released in 1992.-Track listing:# "Microgravity" – 5:12# "Baby Satellite" – 5:04# "Tranquillizer" – 8:18# "The Fairy Tale" – 4:53# "Cloudwalker II" – 5:26# "Chromosphere" – 3:28...
, The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
's song Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus
Frances the Mute
Frances the Mute is the second studio album by progressive rock band The Mars Volta released in the US on March 1, 2005. Though not as commercially successful as De-Loused in the Comatorium, it received considerable critical praise...
, the Cygnus X-1 duology by Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, and throughout The Lonely Forest
Lonely Forest
-History:The band was formed in Anacortes, Washington and consists of singer/guitarist/keyboardist John Van Deusen, guitarist Tony Ruland, drummer Braydn Krueger, and bassist Eric Sturgeon....
's concept album Nuclear Winter
Nuclear Winter (The Lonely Forest album)
Nuclear Winter is the first full length album by The Lonely Forest. It was released on August 4, 2007. The album is a concept album about the end of the world and the escape from destruction through space travel. It was written by The Lonely Forest with the lyrics and story by John Van Deusen. ...
, all include references to Cygnus.
Namesakes
- USS Cygnus (AF-23)USS Cygnus (AF-23)USS Cygnus was an Cygnus-class cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II, named after the constellation Cygnus...
, a former cargo ship of the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, is named after the constellation.
See also
- Cygnus LoopCygnus LoopThe Cygnus Loop is a large supernova remnant in the constellation Cygnus, an emission nebula measuring nearly 3° across. Some arcs of the loop, known collectively as the Veil Nebula or Cirrus Nebula, emit in visible light...
- John Birmingham (astronomer)John Birmingham (astronomer)John Birmingham was an Irish astronomer, amateur geologist, polymath and poet. He spent six or seven years travelling widely in Europe where he became proficient in several languages. In 1866 he discovered the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis...
- Cygnus Bubble
- Cygnus (Chinese astronomy)
- Kronberger 61Kronberger 61Kronberger 61 also known as the "soccer ball" is a Nebula discovered by an amateur Astronomer in January, 2011, with the newer images having being taken by the Gemini Observatory. The nebula is named for Austrian Mattias Kronberger, who is a member of the amateur group Deep Sky Hunters. They...
External links
- The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Cygnus
- Northern Cygnus Mosaic Pan and Zoom In on deep sky objects in Cygnus.
- The clickable Cygnus
- Star Tales – Cygnus