Fawaris is the star on the western arm of the Northern Cross in Cygnus, a blue-white star with a close companion and a name meaning the riders.
At a glance
| type | blue-white star (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 165 light-years (50.6 pc) |
| its light left it | 165 years ago |
| luminosity | 219 × the Sun |
| radius | 4.75 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 10,200 K |
| constellation | Cygnus (Swan) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Fawaris
The card classes it as a blue-white star of class B, hot and somewhat larger than the Sun, giving out far more light. A telescope shows a faint companion very close to it, a test for good optics.
Fawaris is Delta Cygni. Its name comes from the Arabic al-fawāris, “the riders” or “the horsemen”, an old grouping of stars in this part of the sky, and was formally adopted by the IAU in recent years. Because the Earth’s axis slowly swings around, this star will one day lie near the north celestial pole, as Deneb will too.
What you see in the piece
From Earth it is one end of the swan’s wings, level with Aljanah on the other side. Fly out and the cross loses its symmetry: the wing stars are near neighbours while Sadr and Deneb lie far behind.
Questions
Is Delta Cygni a double star?
Yes. Fawaris has a faint companion very close to it on the sky, which takes a steady night and a good telescope to separate.