Constellation of Cygnus
author: A.Fujii/David Malin Images/Novapix
reference: a-cst27-00005
Image Size 300 DPI: 40 * 51 cm
Cygnus (the Swan), is clearly the bird flying along the northern Milky Way. Many legends refer to this distinctive constellation, including that of Zeus who disguised himself as a swan while visiting Leda, wife of the King of Sparta. This union resulted in Pollux, one of the heavenly twins. Arabic legends see here the more prosaic outline of a flying hen in this part of the sky. Because Cygnus is in the Milky Way, it is rich in Galactic objects that are visible in binoculars and modest telescopes, notable are the enormous North America Nebula (NCG 7000) and the faint shreds of the Veil nebula, a supenova remnant that covers a patch of sky five times larger than the full Moon. Vulpecula (the Fox) is a faint constellation created by Johannes Hevelius, who called it Vulpecula cum Anser, the Fox and Goose. Anser is the only named star in an otherwise undistinguished part of the sky.