When is the constellation Cygnus visible?

The constellation Cygnus is best visible at 9 p.m. during the month of September in the northern hemisphere. It is known as the Northern Cross, as opposed to the Southern Cross. Cygnus is the Greek word for "swan."

Cygnus was one of the 48 constellations first listed by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy. Its prominent asterism (recognizable pattern of stars visible from earth) gives it the form of a swan or cross. According to myth, the musician and poet Orpheus, after being killed by the maenads, was changed into a swan and placed in the sky next to his lyre, the constellation Lyra.