The Sky This Week, 2011 October 18 – 25 – Naval Oceanography Portal
The absence of the Moon and the possibility of crisp, clear fall evenings means that it’s time once again for the autumn edition of the Great World Wide Star Count [between October 14th and 28th]. This annual exercise in “citizen science†is intended to not only introduce people to the joys of learning to find their way around the sky, but to also sensitize us to the encroachment of artificial night lighting and its impacts on our environment. The premise is very simple; go outside on the next clear night, identify the constellation Cygnus (for Northern Hemisphere observers) and count the number of stars you see within the constellation’s boundaries. If you live in an urban site try doing the count from your back yard, then try it again from out in the country.
The Sky This Week, 2011 October 18 – 25 – Naval Oceanography Portal
Cygnus, the Swan, is also known as the Northern Cross because of its shape. The tail of the swan is marked by the bright star Deneb, Arabic for "tail". Three fainter stars cross the line between Deneb and the head of the swan, Albireo. Cygnus flies southward along the summer Milky Way, and into the Summer Triangle.
Cygnus Constellation on Top Astronomer
The Chinese identify the constellation with Que Qiao, the "magpie bridge" that connects the lovers Niu Lang ("the cowherd") and Zhi Nu ("the weaver girl") once a year. It is said that the Goddess of Heaven found out that the two were married and separated them because Zhi Nu, a fairy, could not be with a mortal. Her husband then took their two children and went up to Heaven to be with his wife, but the Goddess would not allow this. She created a wide river in the sky with her hairpin to keep them separated. The river is the Milky Way between Altair and Vega. The story says that once a year, all the magpies in the world form a bridge so that the two can be together, and the constellation represents the celestial bridge.