Star profile

56 Cygni

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is 56 Cygni

56 Cygni flies alongside its Flamsteed sisters across the body of the Swan, which sails the summer Milky Way with outstretched wings. It is a white A-type star some 134 light-years away, hotter and brighter than the Sun, with the crisp paleness characteristic of class A. Its light set out before radio was invented; it now settles among the dark nebulae that streak this region of the northern sky.

Where it is and when to see it

56 Cygni lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is August, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never sets and culminates about 83° up.
From New York it culminates about 87° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 12° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 46° S.

It ranks no. 52 in brightness among the 137 stars of Cygnus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Deneb, the brightest: it lies about 2° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 130 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 56 Cygni

Constellation: Cygnus
Apparent magnitude: 5.06
Distance: 133.6 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 312.520° · Dec 44.059°
Catalogue: HIP 102843 · HD 198639

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Other stars in Cygnus

Cygnus has 137 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 137 stars in Cygnus