Theta Cygni

Theta Cygni (θ Cygni, θ Cyg) is a star in the northern constellation of Cygnus. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.5, so it can be seen from the northern hemisphere with the naked eye in sufficiently dark skies. Based upon parallax measurements, it is at a distance of about 59.8 light-years (18.3 parsecs) from the Earth. It is suspected of hosting an extrasolar planet.

The spectrum of this star matches a stellar classification of F3 V. The luminosity class 'V' is associated with a category of stars called main sequence, which, like the Sun, are generating energy through the nuclear fusion of hydrogen at their cores. The outer envelope of this star is radiating 4.2 times the luminosity of the Sun at an effective temperature of about 6,381 K, which gives it the yellow-white hue typical of F-type stars. Theta Cygni is larger than the Sun, with about 38% more mass and a 58% greater radius. The estimated age of this star is probably in the range of 0.6–1.9 billion years.

Theta Cygni has a faint companion star at an angular separation of about three arcseconds and a position angle of 56°. This star has an apparent visual magnitude of 13.03, which is too faint to be seen without a telescope. It is a red dwarf star with a stellar classification of M3 V and an estimated mass of about 0.33 times the mass of the Sun. Both components of this system are traveling together through space with a high proper motion of 0.261 arcseconds per year, or 0.4° per century.

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The White Swan

by: Amorphis

I set out on the longest road
To seek the answers from Death
I set out to the black sacred stream
to seek out and shoot a white swan
On desolate and stony paths
From a mountain to a vale
I reached the shore and saw it come
Into my view, the swan
I took the arrow and raised my bow
I aimed below the graceful neck
Under the white of its breast
Inside the red of its heart
The surface of the river calm and black
Reflects the sky, the pale moon
And there a glimpse caught of myself
I’m shattered, the vision is ruined
An arrow from the water
A serpent rips my mind
Into the black river of Death
With a slash across my heart
My last sight a white swan
Behind the swan a starless sky
Under the sky a coal black river




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