Capricornus constellation
Latin Capricornus, genitive Capricorni, abbreviation Cap
North up, east to the left, as you see the sky. The lines are a common figure; the stars are from the catalogue.
The myth
A creature half goat, half fish, known to the Babylonians. The Greeks told that the shepherd god Pan leapt into the water to escape the monster Typhon and turned half into a fish. The Tropic of Capricorn recalls that the sun once stood here at the December solstice; today it is in Sagittarius then.
When can Capricornus be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in September. It can be seen from everywhere south of 62°N, and it never sets south of 77°S.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deneb Algedi | δ Cap | 2.87 | white |
| Dabih | β Cap | 3.08 | yellow |
| Algedi | α2 Cap | 3.57 | yellow |
| Nashira | γ Cap | 3.68 | yellowish white |
| Yen | ζ Cap | 3.74 | orange |
| – | θ Cap | 4.07 | bluish |
| – | ω Cap | 4.11 | reddish |
| Wei | ψ Cap | 4.14 | yellowish white |
The smaller the number, the brighter: below 1 are the brightest stars of the sky, 4 is hard to see under a city sky. Greek letters after Johann Bayer (1603).
Constellation and zodiac sign
The constellation Capricornus and the zodiac sign of the same name are not the same. The signs divide the Sun's path into twelve equal parts of 30 degrees, counted from the vernal equinox; the constellations differ in size, and because the Earth's axis slowly wobbles, they now lie almost one sign further on.