Northern Cygnus

northern_cygnus.jpgThis month’s astronomy article is on yesterday’s APOD (Astronomy Picture Of the Day) by the NASA. It features one of the most famous constellations, Cygnus.

The star on the top of the image is Deneb, the brightest of this area and one of the three that constitutes the Summer Triangle.

The full image is as often with APOD, a marvellous one. Please note that the Pelican Nebula I talked about two months ago is a part of this region of the sky.

Below is the description given by the NASA about this amazing photo :

Bright, hot, supergiant star Deneb lies at top center in this gorgeous skyscape. The 20 frame mosaic spans an impressive 12 degrees across the northern end of Cygnus the Swan.

Crowded with stars and luminous gas clouds along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, Cygnus is also home to the dark, obscuring Northern Coal Sack Nebula, extending from Deneb toward the bottom center of the view.

The reddish glow of NGC 7000, the North America Nebula, and IC 5070, the Pelican Nebula, are at the upper left, but many other nebulae and star clusters are identifiable throughout the wide field.

Of course, Deneb itself is the alpha star of Cygnus and is also known to northern hemisphere skygazers for its place in two asterisms — marking the top of the Northern Cross and a vertex of the Summer Triangle.

Source : NASA’s APOD of September 20th, 2007.

Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler

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