Cosmic Pursuits

Basic astronomy and night sky information

cygnus

The Blinking Planetary Nebula

By Filed Under: Deep Sky

A Hubble Space Telescope image of the Blinking Planetary Nebula NGC 68226 (with additional processing by Judy Schmidt)
A Hubble Space Telescope image of the Blinking Planetary Nebula NGC 6826 (with additional processing by Judy Schmidt)

While the Milky Way along the backbone of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan, offers many fine targets for stargazers, the wings of the constellation are also well worth exploring, especially in the months of July through October when the constellation lies near the meridian. In this short tour, let’s tiptoe through the western wing of the Swan and inspect the remarkable Blinking Planetary, NGC 6826, and a few more intriguing deep-sky objects [Read more…] about The Blinking Planetary Nebula

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Touring the Backbone of Cygnus, the Swan

By Filed Under: Deep Sky

The Milky Way through the constellation Cygnus. The dark cloud bisecting the Milky Way is the Great Rift.
The Milky Way through the constellation Cygnus. The dark cloud bisecting the Milky Way is the Great Rift.

In the late days of northern summer, the constellation Cygnus lies nearly overhead in the mid-evening hours. A long, conspicuous constellation, Cygnus stretches along the diffuse arc of the Milky Way and is packed full of lovely deep-sky objects for stargazers of all skill levels.

Cygnus is an ancient star group and goes back at least 2,000 years. In Greek legend, Cygnus was a friend of Phaeton, the son of Helios, the Sun god. Phaeton met his demise while foolishly trying to drive his father’s sun-chariot across the sky. When Phaeton fell into the river Eridanus, Cygnus begged Zeus to turn him into a swan so he could fly down to retrieve his friend’s body. In doing so, however, he gave up his immortality. Zeus was touched by the selfless act of Cygnus in honoring his friend, so he cast the swan in a place of honor in the night sky [Read more…] about Touring the Backbone of Cygnus, the Swan

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Nebulosity in the ‘Swan’s Chest’

By Filed Under: Deep Sky

Gamma Cygni mosaic_LRGB+HA_small_Terry Hancock
Blue-white star Sadr (right) is surrounded by a complex of dark nebulae and bright emission nebulae in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan (credit: Terry Hancock)

The bright star Sadr marks the chest of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Located in the direction of the northern Milky Way, this little patch of sky is packed with diffuse emission and dark nebulae that are part of the much larger Cygnus Molecular Cloud. This image by Terry Hancock shows the rich nebulosity in this region as captured from his backyard observatory in Fremont Michigan. He created this mosaic originally consisting of 5 panels and later cropped to make 4 panels using 187 individual frames and a total exposure time of over 18 hours. The total mosaic covers an area approximately 6.5 x 5.4 degrees. Equipment used, QHY11 Monochrome CCD and Takahashi E-180 [Read more…] about Nebulosity in the ‘Swan’s Chest’

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