Star profile

Zeta Cygni

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is Zeta Cygni

Zeta Cygni is an aged yellow giant, far more luminous and far cooler than when it burned on the main sequence. Hidden at its side travels a white dwarf companion — the compact corpse of a star that flared as a nova in a remote past and left behind a core no larger than Earth. It shines along the outstretched wing of the Swan, some 143 light years away, a silent postcard of the fate awaiting most stars.

Where it is and when to see it

Zeta 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: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.

Find it on the sky map

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The signature wall

Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works

If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.

Write my signature

A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.

Astronomical data for Zeta Cygni

Constellation: Cygnus
Apparent magnitude: 3.21
Distance: 143.1 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 318.234° · Dec 30.227°
Catalogue: HIP 104732 · HD 202109

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Cygnus

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

See all 137 stars in Cygnus