Cygnus (The Swan)

Northern Cross constellation flying along the Milky Way, containing Cygnus X-1, the first accepted black hole candidate.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Stephen Hawking bet Kip Thorne that Cygnus X-1 held no black hole, and conceded the wager in 1990 as evidence mounted.
• Deneb shines roughly 200,000 times brighter than the Sun, making it one of the most luminous stars visible to the naked eye.
• NASA's Kepler telescope stared at a single field spanning Cygnus and Lyra for four years, discovering thousands of exoplanets there.

Specifications & Metrics

• BRIGHTEST STAR: Deneb (α Cyg)
• HEMISPHERE: Northern
• BEST VIEWED: September