Constellation Swan Story _ Introduction to Constellation Swan Story

What are the characteristics of Cygnus?

In the Milky Way across the night sky, there is a constellation that flies like a swan, called Cygnus. It is one of the most striking constellations in the summer night sky, standing on both sides of the Milky Way with Aquila and Lyra. The big triangle composed of three main stars (α star) in these three constellations is the famous "Summer Triangle". Although Cygnus is immersed in the white galaxy, it is not difficult to find it because there are many bright stars in this constellation.

If several bright stars in Cygnus are connected together, a big cross will be formed, which is far opposite to the southern cross in early summer, so people call it the "Northern Cross". Astronomers in ancient Greece imagined the Northern Cross and all the stars around it as a swan spreading its wings and flying. At the tail of this swan, there is a first-class bright star Tianjin IV. Not far east of Tianjin IV, there is a famous star called Cygnus 6 1, which is about 1 1 light-year away from the Earth. It is 13 the closest star to the earth except the sun. People with good eyesight can see it in the clear night sky.

In ancient Greek mythology, Cygnus was the incarnation of Zeus. Legend has it that Zeus fell in love with Leda, the beautiful queen of Sparta, but he was afraid that Hera, the jealous queen of God, would turn into a 1 swan to meet Leda and gave birth to two sons (twins). Later, Zeus left the image of this swan in the sky and turned it into Cygnus.

It's interesting to watch cygnus. The swan rose from the northeast, when it rose almost sideways to the sky. When it reaches the zenith, its head points south to west. When it moves to the northwest, its head is down, its tail is up, and it finally sinks into the northwest horizon. Of course, like all stars, Cygnus rises at different times in different seasons. For example, in spring, the swan rises around midnight, in early autumn, it rises in the afternoon, and it is already high in the sky after dusk.