Prismtect › Constellations › Cygnus
the Swan
A large cross lying along the Milky Way, also called the Northern Cross. Its brightest star, Deneb, marks the swan's tail and is one corner of the Summer Triangle with Vega (Lyra) and Altair (Aquila). The swan flies south along the Milky Way, its neck stretched out.
Greek myth tells of Zeus taking the form of a swan. Another story names the swan as Orpheus, placed in the sky beside his lyre, Lyra.
Albireo, the star at the swan's head, looks single to the eye, but a small telescope shows two stars, one gold and one blue.
The oldest Greek writers called it simply "the Bird"; Eratosthenes made it a swan.
Arab astronomers saw a hen, ad-Dajajah.
The Chinese saw the Milky Way as a river in the sky.
Many Polynesian peoples named Cygnus.
The oldest Greek writers called it simply "the Bird"; Eratosthenes made it a swan. In his version, Zeus chased the nymph Nemesis through many changes of shape until he caught her as a swan. Her egg was given to Queen Leda of Sparta, and Helen of Troy hatched from it. Another version makes Leda herself the mother of Helen and of the twins Castor and Pollux (Gemini). A Roman story is about Cygnus, a friend of Phaethon. When Phaethon fell into the river Eridanus, Cygnus dived for his bones again and again, and the moved gods turned him into a swan. Ovid tells of three different men called Cygnus who all became swans.
Arab astronomers saw a hen, ad-Dajajah. Deneb comes from dhanab, "tail", as in "tail of the hen". The four stars across the wings were al-fawaris, "the horsemen", with Deneb as the rider at the back. The name Albireo looks Arabic but is a medieval copying mistake and means nothing.
The Chinese saw the Milky Way as a river in the sky. Deneb and eight wing stars formed Tianjin, a ford or bridge across it. The river looks shallower here because a dark dust cloud, the Cygnus Rift, blocks the stars behind. In the cowherd and weaver story, Deneb marks the bridge of magpies that lets the lovers (Altair and Vega) meet once a year. Other versions make Deneb a fairy who watches over them as chaperone. Four stars in the north were Xizhong, a legendary charioteer said to have invented the horse-drawn carriage.
Many Polynesian peoples named Cygnus. It was Tuula-lupe in Tonga, Mara-tea in New Zealand, Pirae-tea in the Society Islands and Fanui-tai in the Tuamotus.
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