✨ Constellation
Cygnus
The Swan, flying along the Milky Way. Its brightest stars form the Northern Cross.
- Name means
- The Swan
- Best seen
- September evenings
- Where to see it
- The northern half of Earth, and the tropics south of the equator
- Brightest star
- Deneb
- Stars in the pattern
- 9
Shapes to look for
The Northern Cross. Bright Deneb sits at the top of a long cross with Albireo at its foot, lying along the Milky Way.
Did you know?
- Deneb, the swan’s tail, is tens of thousands of times brighter than the Sun, which is why it still shines so brightly from very far away.
- Cygnus X-1, the first black hole ever confirmed, lies in this part of the sky.
In this part of the sky
Cygnus X-1
The first black hole ever confirmed, feeding on a nearby star.
More NASA photos of CygnusStraight from NASA’s image library, in the app
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All of night sky
Orion
The Hunter, with three bright stars in a row for his belt.
Ursa Major
The Great Bear, home of the Big Dipper.
Ursa Minor
The Little Bear, with Polaris at the tip of its tail.
Cassiopeia
A bright W of five stars, named after a boastful queen.
Scorpius
The Scorpion, with red Antares at its heart.
Leo
The Lion, whose head is a backwards question mark of stars.