Cygnus represents the God Zeus, when he changed into the form of a swan so that he could visit Leda, wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. The result of this visit was the twins Castor and Pollux. Pollux was Zeus's child and Castor was Tyndareus' child. Castor and Pollux are the alpha and beta stars of Gemini.

Cygnus is a very rewarding constellation due to it lying over a particularly rich region of the Milky Way. This section of the Milky Way has Nebulae, Planetary Nebulae, clusters and binary stars.

We will start with NGC 7000, the North America Nebula. Best viewed with long exposure photography. You can really see a resemblance to North America, and particularly the Gulf of Mexico.

Next is the Veil Nebula (NGC 6960,6992,6995). This Nebula is the remnants of a Supernova that happened approximately 60000 years ago. Over this length of time the dust and gas has spread wide and thin, and this is what gives the nebula the appearance of a veil. A 6 inch telescope will be needed to view the nebula with any satisfaction, but long exposure photography brings it to life.

Over to the right and top of Cygnus you can find NGC 6826 the Blinking Nebula. By looking to and from the central star, the nebula appears to blink out of view and then back again.

There are also two open clusters worth looking for, M29 and M39.

Alpha Cygni is Deneb, the 19th brightest star in the sky at 1.25 magnitude.