Cygnus

Cyg star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).

One of the 88 IAU constellations.

Etymology and History

Cyg, Lyr, Del, Aql and Sge on the Kugel Globe (1st century BCE), SMH 2024.

The Greek constellation was originally named "The Bird" (ornithos).

Origin of Constellation

Almagest Ὅρνες.

id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
	Ὅρυιθος ἀστερισμός.	Constellation of Cygnus
1	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος.	The star on the beak	bet Cyg
2	ὁ τούτῳ ἐπόμενος καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς.	The one to the rear of this, on the head	phi Cyg
3	ὁ ἐν μέσῳ τῷ τραχήλῳ	The star in the middle of the neck	eta Cyg
4	ὁ ἐν τῷ στήθει	The star in the breast	gam Cyg
5	ὁ ἐν τῇ οὐρᾷ λαμπρός	The bright star in the tail	alf Cyg
6	ὁ ἐυ τῷ ἀγκῶνι τῆς δεξιᾶς πτέρυγος	The star in the bend of the right wing	del Cyg
	τῶν ἐκ τῷ δεξιῷ ταρσῷ ἡ’ ὁ νότιος	The southernmost of the 3 in the right wing-feathers	tet Cyg
	ὁ μέσος τῶν τριῶν	The middle one of the three	iot Cyg
	ὁ βόρειος αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπ’ ἄκρου τοῦ ταρσοῦ	The northernmost of them, on the tip of the wing-feathers	kap Cyg
	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀγκῶνος τῆς ἀριστερᾶς πτέρυγος	The star on the bend of the left wing	eps Cyg
	ὁ βορειότερος αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν μέσῃ τῇ αὐτῇ πτέρυγι	The star north of this, in the middle of the same wing	lam Cyg
	ὁ ἐν ἄκρῳ τῷ ταρσῷ τῆς ἀριστερᾶς πτέρυγος	The star in the tip of the feathers of the left wing	zet Cyg
	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ ποδός	The star on the left leg	nu Cyg
	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ γόρατος.	The star on the left knee	xi Cyg
	τῶν ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ ποῦὶ β ὁ προηγούμευος	The more advanced of the 2 stars in the right leg	omi1 Cyg
	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν	The one to the rear	omi2 Cyg
	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ γόνατος νεφελοειδής.	The nebulous star on the right knee	ome Cyg
	ὁ ἀστέρες ἰς, ὥν β’ μεγέθους α, γ’ ἔ, δ’ 3, ε’ β.	17 stars, 1 of the second magnitude, 5 of the third, 9 of the fourth, 2 of the fifth

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

• 

  Cygnus in Fortin's Atlas Céleste, 3rd edition (1795).

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)