Anyone taken a look at the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan recently? (Almost overhead at the moment) It looks a little different with a "new" star appearing in the neck of the swan behind Albireo (The head) The interloper is in fact Mira variable star Chi Cygni which spends much of its time below naked eye visibility but every 400 days or so brightens to around magnitude 4. This maximum is brighter than usual and has been reported as high as mag 3.5. You can read more about Chi Cygni and many other interesting stars on Jim Kaler's website
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