Constellation of the Month...Cygnus (Latin for Swan) lies along the Milky way and is one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer sky. It is also sometimes  known as the Northern Cross.

It has two principal stars. Albireo, a double star with blue and yellow components is at the "head and is approximately 400 ly away. Deneb, its brightest star, is at the tail and forms part of the summer triangle.

At the centre is M29. a 6.6-magnitude open cluster which can be seen with binoculars. The other Messier object in Cygnus is M39, one of the larger open clusters of the northern sky lying about 9 degrees northeast of Deneb. It should be visible with the naked eye.