Capricornus

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Biography

Capricornus is one of the 88 modern constellations, and was also one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy . Under its modern boundaries it is bordered by Aquila (constellation)|Aquila , Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius , Microscopium , Piscis Austrinus and Aquarius (constellation)|Aquarius . The constellation is located in an area of sky called the Sea (astronomy)|Sea or the Water, consisting of many water-related constellations such as Aquarius, Pisces and Eridanus. It is the second faintest constellation in the zodiac after Cancer (constellation)|Cancer .

Notable features

Deep-sky objects

Several galaxies and star clusters are contained within Capricornus. Messier 30 is a globular cluster located 1 degree south of the galaxy group NGC 7103 . The constellation also harbors the wide spiral galaxy NGC 6907 .

One galaxy group located in Capricornus is HCG 87 , a group of at least three galaxies located 400 million light-years from Earth ( redshift 0.0296). It contains a large elliptical galaxy , a face-on spiral galaxy , and an edge-on spiral galaxy. The face-on spiral galaxy is experiencing abnormally high rates of star formation , indicating that it is interacting galaxy|interacting with one or both members of the group. Furthermore, the large elliptical galaxy and the edge-on spiral galaxy, both of which have active galactic nucleus|active nuclei , are connected by a stream of stars and dust, indicating that they too are interacting. Astronomers predict that the three galaxies may galaxy merger|merge millions of years in the future to form a giant elliptical galaxy.

Named stars

Bayer	Name	Origin	Meaning
a	Algedi	Arabic	goat
a¹	Prima Giedi
a²	Secunda Giedi
ß	Dabih	Arabic	The butcher
ß¹	Dabih Major
ß²	Dabih Minor
?	Nashira	Arabic	Bringer of news
d	Deneb Algiedi	Arabic	goat's tail
?	Yen	Chinese
?	Chow	Chinese
?	Al Shat	Arabic	the sheep
?	Yue	Chinese	battle ax

History and mythology

Despite its faintness, Capricornus has one of the oldest mythological associations, having been consistently represented as a mythological hybrid|hybrid of a goat and a fish since the Middle Bronze Age . First attested in depictions on a cylinder-seal from around the 21st century BC ,Master's Thesis of Peeter Espak, 2006 page 104 "" it was explicitly recorded in the Babylonian star catalogues as "The Goat-Fish" before 1000 BC. The constellation was a symbol of the god Ea (god)|Ea and in the Early Bronze Age marked the winter solstice .John H. Rogers, "", Journal of the British Astronomical Association 108 (1998) 9–28.

Due to the precession of the equinoxes the December solstice no longer takes place while the sun is in the constellation Capricornus, but the Capricorn (astrology)|astrological sign called Capricorn begins with the solstice. The sun's most southerly position, which is attained at the northern hemisphere's winter solstice, is now called the Tropic of Capricorn , a term which also applies to the line on the Earth at which the sun is directly overhead at noon on that solstice.

In Greek mythology, the constellation is sometimes identified as Amalthea (mythology)|Amalthea , the goat that suckled the infant Zeus after his mother Rhea (mythology)|Rhea saved him from being devoured by his father Cronus|Cronos (in Greek mythology ). The goat's broken horn was transformed into the cornucopia or horn of plenty.
The planet Neptune was discovered in Capricornus by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle|Johann Galle , near Deneb Algedi (d Capricorni) on September 23, 1846, which is appropriate as Capricornus can be seen best from Europe at 4:00am in September.

Visualizations

Capricornus's brighter stars are found on a triangle whose vertices are Alpha Capricorni|a² Capricorni (Giedi), Delta Capricorni|d Capricorni (Deneb Algiedi), and Omega Capricorni|? Capricorni . Ptolemy's method of connecting the stars of Capricornus has been influential.

H. A. Rey has suggested an alternative visualization, which graphically shows a goat . The goat's head is formed by the triangle of stars Iota Capricorni|? Cap , Theta Capricorni|? Cap , and Zeta Capricorni|? Cap . The goat's horn sticks out with stars Gamma Capricorni|? Cap and Delta Capricorni|d Cap . Star d Cap, at the tip of the horn, is of the third magnitude. The goat's tail consists of stars Beta Capricorni|ß Cap and Alpha Capricorni|a² Cap : star ß Cap being of the third magnitude. The goat's hind foot consists of stars Psi Capricorni|? Cap and Omega Capricorni|? Cap . Both of these stars are of the fourth magnitude.

Equivalents

In Chinese astronomy , constellation Capricornus lies in Black Tortoise (Chinese constellation)|The Black Tortoise of the North (????, Bei Fang Xuán Wu ).

Nakh peoples called this constellation Roofing Towers ()

Astrology

, the Sun appears in the constellation Capricornus from January 19 to February 15. In tropical astrology , the Sun is considered to be in the sign Capricornus (astrology)|Capricorn from December 22 to January 20, and in sidereal astrology , from January 15 to February 15.

Namesakes

The USS Capricornus (AK-47/UMP45), an , was named after the constellation.

Citations

Copyright Citations

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