Cygnus is a constellation visible from Earth, named for its characterization as a swan. When star-gazing from Sespe in California in the 2270s, James T. Kirk traced over the constellations, through the galactic equator, until he found Cygnus's border of the Lacerta constellation, searching for Triangulum constellation near where he knew the too-faint-to-be-seen Romulan homesun would be. (TOS novel: "My Enemy, My Ally") The Federation starships named USS Cygnus are called as such for this region, the formations contained within and its mythological history.