Find Cygnus and Vega

Stargazing is a cheap, easy, fun adventure. We live in the northern hemisphere, and on most nights, we can find constellations including: The Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Cassiopeia, the Winter Triangle, Andromeda, Draco, Gemini, Orion, Pleiades, Pegasus, Scorpius, and Taurus. We also find stars like Betelgeuse, Rigel, Polaris, Bellatrix, Castor, Pollux, Antares, and Sirius.

This entry will help you find the constellation Cygnus and the star Vega. Cygnus, also known as the Northern Cross, is an intermediate constellation to find. Cygnus means swan, and this constellation is supposed to look like a swan. One myth has it that Zeus had an affair and turned into a swan to escape Hera's wrath.

The easiest way is to locate Cassiopeia. Follow the three stars that line up in Cassiopeia along the Milky Way (if you can see it) to Cygnus. Or think of it this way. Cassiopeia looks like a crooked M with a big first hump and a smaller second hump. If you number the stars in Cassiopeia 1-5, 1 being the beginning (left) of the M and 5 being the last (right), make a line from star 4-3 (and very near 1) and it points back through Cygnus.

Here's a view of Cassiopeia to help:

 I've numbered the stars left to right here. Go to 4, back through 3 and 1.Cygnus would be straight off the left side of this picture.

In the picture below, Cassiopeia is in the upper left hand corner. The M is upside down, but if you follow star 4, back through 3 and 1, you'll end up right in the middle of Cygnus which is the large cross-- the "swan" flying to the right of the frame.

This picture show Cygnus flying directly away from Cassiopeia.

 The stars of Cygnus are mostly insignificant. The tail is called Deneb and is the best known. Albireo is the head. Though not very well-known, Albireo is pretty cool because it is a double star. On a clear night, you can tell there is something different about it with binoculars.

Nearby is a very significant star-- at least, it has a car named after it. Vega is off the left wing of Cygnus in the constellation Lyra. Vega is significant because it is the most studied star (after the Sun) in the sky. In fact, it is the benchmark for measuring the brightness of all the stars in the sky. Additionally, with Deneb and Albireo, it makes up what is often called "The Summer Triangle." In the picture above, Vega is very nearly off the top of the frame.

Vega actually looks a little closer to Cygnus in the night sky than in this picture.