This constellation looks like a big cross, which is why it is also known as the Northern Cross. The top of the cross or the tail of the swan is a bright star called Deneb and is one of the brightest of stars in the sky. Deneb is a very bright blue star that is only a few million years old. That is really young for a star. Our Sun is 4 billion years old. Cygnus can be seen between June and October.

One mythological story says that Cygnus was a friend of the god Apollo's son, Phaethon. Phaethon tried to drive his father's sun-chariot across the sky and he fell into the river Eridanus (another constellation). Cygnus tries long and hard to search for his friend in the river, so Zeus took pity on Cygnus and turned him into a swan.