Star profile

4 Cygni

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class B · ~15,000 K

What is 4 Cygni

4 Cygni is a hot, variable B-type blue star burning at 708 light-years inside the Northern Cross. Its brightness shifts slightly, a stellar breathing only fine instruments can detect. The light arriving tonight set out when Persian astronomers were still teaching Europe how to measure the sky, and it crossed the entire modern era without straying.

Where it is and when to see it

4 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 July, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 75° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 86° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 20° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 54° S.

It ranks no. 58 in brightness among the 137 stars of Cygnus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Deneb, the brightest: it lies about 17° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 710 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 4 Cygni

Constellation: Cygnus
Apparent magnitude: 5.17
Distance: 707.6 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 291.538° · Dec 36.318°
Catalogue: HIP 95556 · HD 183056

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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