Star profile
68 Cygni
Variable starWhat is 68 Cygni
68 Cygni is a rare specimen: a massive blue O-type star, one of the hottest and most luminous classes in existence, burning at tens of thousands of degrees at its surface. It belongs to Cygnus, that cross laid out across the Milky Way, and is tied to the young stellar associations populating the region. Its brightness varies slightly, an echo of the violent processes that stir blue giants.
Where it is and when to see it
68 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 September, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 82° 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. 48 in brightness among the 137 stars of Cygnus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Deneb, the brightest: it lies about 7° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 330,000 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 68 Cygni
- Constellation
- Cygnus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.04
- Distance
- 326200.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 319.613° · Dec 43.946°
- Catalogue
- HIP 105186 · HD 203064
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Other stars in Cygnus
Cygnus has 137 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- DenebAlpha Cygni1.25
- SadrGamma Cygni2.23
- AljanahEpsilon Cygni2.48
- 2 Cygni4.99
- 17 Cygni5.00
- 20 Cygni5.03
- 74 Cygni5.04
- 56 Cygni5.06