Capricorn Constellation

According to Greek mythology, Capricorn constellation is the symbol for Amalthea, a goat who nursed Zeus and was one of his foster mothers, when he was an infant. Amalthea's broken horn used to feed Zeus was transformed into the horn of plenty or cornucopia. Another myth is that when the Goat god Pan was attacked by Typhon, he jumped into the Nile for protection. It was then that the part of his body that was above water remained in goat form but the part of his body which was underwater transformed into a fish's body. It is also said that the association with cornucopia is because this is the period when the sun is resting and nourishing itself to move back northwards. Mythology and ancient beliefs aside, the constellation is one of the 48 constellations that were identified by Ptolemy, an astronomer who lived in the second century.

Overview of the Capricorn Constellation

The Capricornus or the Capricorn constellation is Latin for horned male goat, despite the fact that today it is more commonly represented by a sea goat, a mythical creature that is half goat and half fish. It is one of the 88 known constellations of modern-day and is bordered by the constellations, Aquila, Sagittarius, Microscopium, Piscis Austrinus and Aquarius. Many of the constellations bordering the Capricornus are water-related and this may have something to do with the fact that the constellation is located in an area of the sky known as Sea. In the early Bronze age, the Capricornus was considered to be the mark of the Winter Solstice, the day which marks the reversal of the length of days and nights, with the days becoming shorter and the nights becoming longer. Though today, the Winter Solstice occurs earlier and not when it is in the constellation, due to the shift in the rotational axis of the earth, the solstice still marks the start of the astrological sign of Capricorn. In fact the latitude at which the Capricorn appears overhead and can be seen by an observer is still known as the Tropic of Capricorn.

It is the second faintest constellation of the zodiac after the Cancer and it is seen at its brightest in September at about four o'clock in the morning. Another interesting fact is that the planet Neptune is located in this constellation but it will be passing into Aquarius in 2011. Given below is a table that lists out the stars in the constellation along with their bayers, which are the stellar designations by which every star is identified. Every bayer designation is a Greek letter. The stars of the constellation seem like they are making a triangle. The brightest star in the constellation is the Deneb Algedi.

Bayer	Star Name
α	Algedi
α1	Prima Giedi
α2	Secunda Giedi
β	Dabih
β1	Dabih Major
β2	Dabih Minor
γ	Nashira
δ	Deneb Algedi
ζ	Yen
η	Chow
ν	Al Shat
ψ	Yue

The Sun is in the constellation between 15th of January and 15th of February. According to astrology, the Sun is considered to be in the Capricorn zodiac sign between 22nd December and 19th January. This is because of the Winter Solstice, which traditionally was marked by the Sun being in the constellation, as explained earlier in the article. The constellation also has a cluster called M30 within its boundaries, which is about 12 arc minutes (one arc minute is equal to 60th of a degree measuring angular distance) all across.

Despite the fact that the constellation does not have any astronomical importance because of the lack of luminosity of the stars, the constellation is hugely discussed due to its zodiac importance and the role it plays in astrology. Hopefully, this brief overview of the constellation has elucidated the features of the constellation.