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Community photo entitled One more star in the summer sky: Chi Cygni by Paolo Palma on 07/27/2024 at Rieti, Italy

One more star in the summer sky: Chi Cygni

On 07/27/2024 11:00 pm by Paolo Palma| Rieti, Italy

In these evenings, an extra star shines in the celestial vault. It is not so bright as to stand out from all the others and it is not T Coronae Borealis that we expect to see at any moment.

Yet it will be present in the shots of the Milky Way that many people enjoy taking in this period: I also found it in shots from over a month ago, even if less bright.

I am talking about Chi Cygni, one of the most famous variable stars in the sky because – like few others – it is literally capable of appearing and disappearing from the celestial vault at intervals of about a year: after having touched magnitude +14 so as to become invisible even to small telescopes, in about 6 months it can reach magnitude +5 becoming visible to the naked eye under dark skies, adding to the large group of stars that draw the summer Milky Way.

To see it again you will have to wait about 400 days, so it is better not to miss it, observing it even just with binoculars for those who want to try from the city.

Huawei p30 pro ISO1250 20s single shot.

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