Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Thursday, July 19th.  Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 9:21.  The moon is new today, and won’t be visible.  |  Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:16.

High in the east northeast as it gets dark flies the constellation of Cygnus the swan.  This constellation is also known as the Northern Cross.  The cross is seen lying on its side with the bright star Deneb at the head of the cross to the left.  The rest of the cross is delineated in the stars to the right.  As a swan, Deneb is the tail, the stars of the crosspiece of the cross are the leading edges of wings as Cygnus flies south through the Milky Way.  There are faint stars that also define the tips and trailing edges of its wings.  It is a very good portrayal of a flying swan, like the mute swans we see on the wing.  In Greek mythology this was the disguise of the god Zeus who seduced the young lady Leda and fathered the immortal of the Gemini twins Pollux.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Cygnus and the stars of the Summer Triangle at 11 p.m. on July 19th. Created using Stellarium.