Starwatch: search for the constellation of Capricornus, the sea goat | Astronomy

FOr those of us in the northern hemisphere, September is an excellent time to search for the low constellation of Capricornus, the sea goat, one of the oldest constellations recognized. It appears on the list of 48 of the second century of Ptolemy, and even before that on the Babylonian clay tablets which date from a few thousand years before JC.

Capricornus is represented as a chimera, a mythical creature containing the body and head of a goat and the tail of a fish. In Greek mythology, he is often associated with Amalthea, who hid the young Zeus with his deviant father, cronos or panoramic the God shepherd.

The constellation rides the ecliptic, the annual path of the sun across the sky, which means that it is one of the 12 constellations of the zodiac.

The graph shows the view to the south from London at midnight when September 1 became September 2. The brightest star of the constellation is Deneb Algedi. Locate this, then make your way in the constellation. Break when you arrive at the Star Algedi and see if you can distinguish your lower companion, located in a narrow attendance.

From the southern hemisphere, Capricornus appears much higher in the northwest sky.