|  | Cygnus is now overhead from about 10pm. What can I see with the naked eye?
Cygnus is very distinctive, look for a large crucifix shape, with the brightest star of the constellation, Deneb, at the top. Or you can imagine Deneb to mark a beautiful swan’s tail, as it soars through the night down the milky way. Either will do, the constellation shape fits both, but I prefer the feathered version!  | | Cygnus |
Amazingly, Deneb is 60,000 times as luminous as our sun, and 1500 light years away, so appears as a small point of light because of the huge distance between us. Just below Deneb is Sadr, around 800 light years away. What can I see with binoculars?
Wow - just scan around the Cygnus region and enjoy! Myriads of milky way stars of all colours will pop into view, along with multitudes of nebulae and clusters. In the constellation itself, the star at the opposite end to Deneb is called Albireo, and shows as a double in binoculars. A gorgeous star cluster, named M39, is just up and slightly left from Deneb. What can I see with a telescope?
Back to Albireo - even a small telescope shows up the lovely colours of this double star - golden and blue. A cluster called M29, right next to Sadr, is particularly stunnung and well worth looking for. There are two interesting nebulae, (regions of interstellar dust and gas, remember). One is just left of and illuminated by Deneb..The North American nebula is so called because it has a similar shape to – North America! Down from M29 on the wing of Cygnus is the veil nebula, the site of another ancient cataclysmic explosion. Veil – like filaments are still scattered around the area today, but you’ll need a moderate scope to see them. |
