DEAN: WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS.

I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINNATI
OBSERVATORY.

JAMES: AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE
KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE

FLORIDA.

NOW THAT AUTUMN HAS BEGUN IN THE NORTHERN
HEMISPHERE, ITS TIME TO SAY FAREWELL TO THE

CONSTELLATIONS THAT KEPT US COMPANY ALL SUMMER
LONG.

DEAN: THATS RIGHT, JAMES AND ONE OF THE MOST
BELOVED OF THESE CONSTELLATIONS IS CYGNUS

THE SWAN.

EVEN FROM BRIGHTLY LIT CITIES, THIS IS A CONSTELLATION
THATS EASY TO FIND.

BUT, DID YOU KNOW THAT CYGNUS HAS BOTH A POETIC
AND A SCIENTIFIC HISTORY THAT RIVALS MANY

OF THE CONSTELLATIONS WE CAN SEE?

JAMES: LETS SHOW YOU.

DEAN: OK, WE HAVE OUR SKIES SET FOR JUST AFTER
SUNSET ANY NIGHT THIS WEEK.

ALMOST DIRECTLY OVERHEAD, YOU CAN SEE THE
FAMILIAR STARS OF THE SUMMER TRIANGLE.

VEGA, THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN LYRA THE HARP,
ALTAIR, THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN AQUILA THE EAGLE

AND DENEB THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN CYGNUS THE
SWAN.

CYGNUS THE SWAN HAS BEEN AN AREA OF FASCINATION
FOR STORY TELLERS AND ASTRONOMERS ALIKE FOR

THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

JAMES: TO FIND THE SWAN, SIMPLY DRAW A LINE
FROM DENEB INWARD TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE

SUMMER TRIANGLE.

THE FIRST STAR YOU'LL ENCOUNTER IS SADR.

THIS MARKS THE HEART OF THE SWAN.

THEN IF YOU DRAW LINES TO THE WEST AND EAST
OF THIS STAR, YOULL FIND TWO MORE STARS.

THESE MARK THE RIGHT AND LEFT WINGS OF THE
SWAN.

GOING BACK TO THE STAR SADR, WE CONTINUE TO
DRAW A LINE OUTWARD TO FORM THE NECK OF THE

SWAN, ENDING AT THE STAR ALBIREO.

DEAN: IN ONE LEGEND, CYGNUS THE SWAN IS SAID
TO BE THE GREAT MUSICIAN ORPHEUS WHO WAS TRANSFORMED

INTO A SWAN, AND PLACED IN THE SKY NEXT TO
HIS HARP, THE CONSTELLATION, LYRA.

JAMES: IN ANOTHER LEGEND, CYGNUS IS SAID TO
BE ZEUS, WHEN HE TRANSFORMED HIMSELF INTO

A SWAN TO SEDUCE LEDA, THE QUEEN OF SPARTA,
WHO ALSO HAPPENED TO BE THE MOTHER OF HELEN

OF TROY, CLYTEMNESTRA AND THE GEMINI TWINS,
CASTOR AND POLLUX.

DEAN: HOWEVER, IN MODERN TIMES, CYGNUS HAS
TURNED OUT TO BE A PLACE OF GREAT DISCOVERIES.

JAMES: DURING A ROCKET FLIGHT IN 1964, A GALACTIC
X-RAY SOURCE KNOWN AS CYGNUS X-1 WAS DISCOVERED.

CYGNUS X-1 IS NOW WIDELY ACCEPTED TO BE A
CANDIDATE FOR THE FIRST BLACK HOLE WEVE DISCOVERED

AND ITS ESTIMATED TO HAVE A MASS ALMOST 15
TIMES THE MASS OF OUR SUN, YET AN EVENT HORIZON

RADIUS OF ONLY ABOUT 16 MILES.

DEAN: IN MORE RECENT TIMES, CYGNUS HAS BEEN
THE TARGET OF STUDY BY NASAS KEPLER SPACE

TELESCOPE.

THE KEPLER TELESCOPE STUDIED OVER 100,000
STARS IN CYGNUS.

ITS GOAL WAS TO FIND PLANETS ORBITING OTHER
STARS, AND SINCE ITS MISSION BEGAN, THOUSANDS

OF THESE EXTRA-SOLAR PLANETS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED
AND CONFIRMED.

THE PLANET KEPLER- 22B WAS ANNOUNCED AS BEING
THE FIRST EARTH-LIKE PLANET ORBITING A SUN-LIKE

STAR.

JAMES: KEPLER 22-B IS OVER 600 LIGHT YEARS
AWAY AND ORBITS IN THE HABITABLE ZONE WHERE

LIQUID WATER CAN EXIST.

WITH A POSSIBLE SURFACE TEMPERATURE NEAR 73
DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, KEPLER-22B IS QUITE THE

GOLDILOCKS PLANET, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF.

JAMES: AND SPEAKING OF PLANETS, IF YOU EVER
GET LOST ON MARS, DENEB IS THE NORTH STAR

ON MARS.

WE NEVER REALLY THINK ABOUT IT, BUT EACH OF
THE PLANETS HAS A DIFFERENT NORTH STAR OR

HAS NO NORTH STAR AT ALL.

DEAN: ALL THE PLANETS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
ROTATE ON AN AXIS.

THE DIRECTION THE AXIS POINTS WITH RESPECT
TO THE PLANE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM DETERMINES

THE ANGLE OF AXIAL TILT.

OUR EARTH IS TILTED 23.5 DEGREES WITH RESPECT
TO THE PLANE OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.

MARS TILTS AT 25 DEGREES AND SATURN HAS A
TILT OF ALMOST 27 DEGREES.

JAMES: HOWEVER, COMPARE THAT WITH MERCURY
AND JUPITER, WHICH BARELY TILT AT ALL; BETWEEN

2 AND 3 DEGREES RESPECTIVELY.

YET AT THE OTHER EXTREME YOU HAVE VENUS, WHICH
IS PRACTICALLY UPSIDE DOWN AT 177 DEGREES

AND URANUS WHICH LIES ON ITS SIDE AT 98 DEGREES.

DEAN: SO SINCE EVERY PLANET TILTS IN A DIFFERENT
DIRECTION, EACH PLANET SHOULD HAVE A DIFFERENT

NORTH STAR; OR, NO NORTH STAR AT ALL.

SO THATS WHY OUR NORTH POLE IS POINTING NEAR
POLARIS, AND MARS IS POINTING NEAR DENEB.

JAMES: SO, IF YOU EVER GET LOST ON MARS, LOOK
FOR CYGNUS THE SWAN AND YOU'LL FIND NORTH.

DEAN: WELL,THERE YOU HAVE IT, THE AMAZING
CELESTIAL SWAN CYGNUS.

AND ITS ALL UP THERE FOR YOU TO SEE IF YOU
REMEMBER TO

BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!