The swan of summer is flying high
There are so many great stories in the over 60 constellations available to us in our Butler night sky. There are heroes, hunters, musical instruments, royalty and all kinds of critters, including eight birds.
Cygnus the Swan is the biggest and brightest of the celestial birds, and it is now flying very high in the early evening southeastern sky. The brightest star in Cygnus is Deneb, shining brightly at the end of its tail feathers.
Deneb is also one of the stars that make up the very large “Summer Triangle,” which can really help you find your way in the summer heavens. The other Summer Triangle stars are Vega and Altair, the brightest stars in their respective constellations, Lyra (the Harp) and Aquila (the Eagle). Just look for the three brightest stars in the high southern sky, and that’s it.
Deneb is the highest but dimmest star in the triangle, but it is not a puny star. On the contrary, it’s a fantastically massive star at least 1,500 light-years away, with just 1 light-year equaling almost 6 trillion miles. It’s so far away that the light we see from it tonight left that star around 500 AD. Theoretically, it could explode tonight, and our great-great-great-great-grandkids wouldn’t see the explosion until well after the year 3500.
Cygnus the Swan contains within it a pattern of stars called the Northern Cross. It’s much easier to see the Northern Cross before looking for the rest of the Swan. Face south and you’ll see Deneb sitting at the top of the diagonally orientated cross. Down and to the right of Deneb, you should easily see the three stars that make up the crosspiece.
At the foot of the cross is the not-so-impressive star Albireo, at least to the naked eye. However, with a small telescope, or one of the newer smart photographic scopes that are really catching on, you’ll see that Albireo is not just one star but a beautiful pair of stars, one gold and the other blue. It’s one of the best double stars in the night sky. While Albireo appears to be a double star system, it’s more complicated than that. The gold star is actually a tight three-star system, consisting of three stars so close together that they appear as one.
It’s easy to expand on the Northern Cross and find the entire swan. To do that, make Deneb the tail of the swan and Albireo the swan’s head. Then look for fainter stars just off and slightly to the left of both sides of the crosspiece. These stars make up the wingtips. Draw a curved line from one wingtip through the crosspiece stars and onto the opposite wingtip stars, and you have the entire wingspan of Cygnus.
The Greek mythology story of how Cygnus came to be in the sky is a sad one, although it has a somewhat happy ending. Helios, the Greek name for the god of the sun, was one of the upper echelons of the gods on Mount Olympus. Every day, he was responsible for guiding the sun across the sky, encased in a giant glass chariot. A fleet of flying white horses gallantly pulled the chariot.
Phaethon, one of Helios’ many children, idolized his dad and very much wanted to eventually take over the reins of the sun chariot when Helios retired. At just 10 years old, Phaethon begged his dad to let him take the sun chariot for a ride, but Helios said no, and for good reason. It was a colossal accident waiting to happen. Even so, Phaethon, in his youthful exuberance, was convinced he could handle it. One morning, temptation set in, and the inevitable disaster followed.
Helios overslept that morning, and Phaethon realized that this was his chance. He entered the hanger with the golden chariot, climbed in, backed it out, and bellowed a celestial “giddy up!” to the flying horses. Before he knew it, he was airborne!
Surprisingly, he handled the sun vehicle like a pro at first, but soon he got cocky and lost control of the chariot. A crash of celestial proportions was moments away. If the sun crashed, the entire world would turn into a blaze of fire!
From Mount Olympus, Zeus, the king of the gods, saw what was happening and took immediate action. He couldn’t tell who was in the driver’s seat but knew it wasn’t Helios. Not recognizing Phaethon, he concluded it was an enemy intruder at the reins. He frantically shouted down to Helios for help and then shot a lightning bolt at Phaethon, spearing him out of the driver’s seat and on the way to a fatal plunge. Meanwhile, with all his might, Helios catapulted himself up to the chariot and jumped into the seat. He got control of it just before the sun catastrophically crashed.
Meanwhile, Phaethon plunged into the river Po and was killed on impact. At that height, it was like slamming into a cement slab. Soon after, Helios and Zeus tragically discovered who was shot out of the chariot and met his demise. Other gods recognized the body as well and were just as grief-stricken. As a lasting memorial, they magically transformed his body into the beautiful constellation we see today as Cygnus the Swan.
Enjoy the high-flying swan of the night sky.
Celestial Hugging This Week: Very early morning risers this coming Tuesday can see the waning crescent moon parked between the bright planets Jupiter and Venus in the early morning twilight.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is also the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at adventurepublications.net. Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.
