The Constellation of Capricorn is one of the 12 Zodiac Constellations.Its name is Latin for “horned goat” or “goat horn”, and it is commonly represented in the form of a sea-goat: a mythical creature that is half goat, half fish.
Capricornus is one of the 88 modern constellations, and was also one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy.
The Constellation of Capricorn is the 2nd faintest constellation (Cancer is the faintest), it can be a challenge to record well as its brightest Star is only 2.9 magnitude, most of its pattern stars range from 3.1 to 5.5 The brightest star in Capricornus is d Capricorni, also called Deneb Algedi, with a magnitude of 2.9, 39 light-years from Earth. It also marks the Tail of the Fish/Goat.
Despite its faintness, Capricornus has one of the oldest mythological associations, having been consistently represented as a hybrid of a goat and a fish since the Middle Bronze Age.
The Bright & Popular M30 Globular Star Cluster resides in the Constellation of Capricorn. The Bright Beta Star Dabih is a nice double star!
This is one of my best shots of the Constellation of Capricorn to date, since it sits so low on the Horizon for us Northern Hemisphere observers, often Humidity, haze, scintillation, as well as smog and light pollution interference make it a tough Constellations to capture well.
I captured this 4 minute exposure between T-storms at my Friends Farm in Iowa last weekend(Dark Skies)!
Canon 40D Modified & Canon 33mm lens, F5.5, ISO 1600, CG-4 Tracking mount.
Watch for the Wonderful Alpha Capricornid Meteor Shower visible July 15th through about August 10th, they are not many but the mere 4-9 meteors per hour can sometimes be big and burn up bright!!! The radiant point is around Alpha Star Algedi.
Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com
