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CYGNUS (" The Swan ")

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 689 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CYGNUS (" The See also:Swan ") , in See also:astronomy, a See also:constellation of the See also:northern hemisphere, mentioned by See also:Eudoxus (4th See also:century B.C.) and See also:Aratus (3rd century B.C.), and fabled by the Greeks to be the swan in the See also:form of which See also:Zeus seduced See also:Leda. See also:Ptolemy catalogued 19 stars, Tycho See also:Brahe 18, and See also:Hevelius 47. In this constellation /3 Cygni is a See also:fine coloured See also:double See also:star, consisting of a yellow star, magnitude 3, and a See also:blue star, magnitude 51. The fine double star, µ Cygni, separated by See also:Sir See also:William See also:Herschel in 1779, has magnitudes 4 and 5; it has a See also:companion, of magnitude 71, which, however, does not form See also:part of the See also:system. A double star, 61 Cygni, of magnitudes 5.3 and 5.9, was the first star whose distance was determined; its See also:parallax is o"•39, and it is therefore the nearest star in the northern hemisphere with the exception of v Centauri. A See also:regular variable, x Cygni, has extreme magnitudes of 5 to 13.5, and its See also:period is 406 days. Nova Cygni is a " new " star discovered by Johann See also:Schmidt in 1876. There is also an extended nebula in the constellation.

End of Article: CYGNUS (" The Swan ")

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