68 Cygni

68 Cygni is the Flamsteed designation for a star in the constellation Cygnus. Located approximately 1,400 parsecs (4,600 ly) distant, the star is a hot blue giant of spectral type O7.5IIIn((f)), a massive star that is likely currently expanding to become a supergiant. The star is surrounded by a ring-shaped nebula (likely a Strömgren sphere) named S 119.

68 Cygni is currently classified as a rotating ellipsoidal variable, varying between apparent magnitudes 4.98 and 5.09, although the classification as a rotating ellipsoidal variable is subject to controversy. Barely visible to the naked eye, the star is likely to have a mass of around 26 solar masses and a temperature of approximately 34,000 Kelvin, although many of the star's physical parameters are subject to uncertainties due to the unclear nature of the system.

Naming

Being visible to the naked eye, 68 Cygni would have been observable since ancient times, but the first known cataloging and designation of the star was by Johann Bayer, who assigned it the Bayer designation A Cygni. Bayer grouped stars into six magnitude groupings (1st- through 6th-magnitude) and assigned Greek letters to the brightest 24 stars in these groupings, sorted by right ascension within groups. When he ran out of Greek letters, Bayer then moved on to Latin letters; thus, 68 Cygni was the 25th star Bayer designated in Cygnus.