Stars · Star in Cygnus
Star
Deneb
The tail of the swan — one of the most luminous stars you can see, a white supergiant so far away its distance is still uncertain.
- Constellation
- Cygnus
- Designation
- α Cygni
- Apparent magnitude
- 1.25 · 21st brightest star in the night sky
- Spectral class
- A2Ia
- Distance
- 1,412 light-years
- Position (J2000)
- RA 20h 41m · Dec +45° 17′
A white supergiant, around 9,500 K, like Sirius and Vega. About 130× brighter than the faintest star the eye can see. The light you are seeing left around 614.
Look for
It forms the Summer Triangle with Vega and Altair. The other two are near neighbours; Deneb looks similar only because it is enormously more powerful.
Did you know
Put it where Vega is and it would blaze far brighter than Venus, bright enough to cast shadows.