Capricornus+-+Grissel+Barros

Grissell Barros Astronomy 10 05.04.15

=**Capricornus**=

==== Since ancient times and currently today humans have used the sky to try to predict seasons, love, fortune, and health. The zodiac signs are obtained from the constellations which lie along the suns’ path in the sky. “The Zodiac, the 12 signs listed in a horoscope, is closely tied to how the Earth moves through the heavens.” The Astronomer Claudius Ptolemy listed Capricornus as one of the 48 constellations in the 2nd Century and is also one of twelve zodiac constellations. It is one of the faintest, smallest and 40th largest constellation. It has an area of 414 square degrees and is located in the 4th quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere. Capricornus is neighbors with Aquarius, Aquila, Miscroscopium, Piscis Austrinus, and Sagittarius. ====



====Since the Bronze age, Capricornus has been mentioned. The constellation was a symbol of the god Ea and in the early Bronze age marked the winter solstice. The god Ea was the deity of crafts, mischief, water, seawater, lake water, intelligence and creation.==== Image from Wikipedia.org ==== Capricornus’s name in Latin means “horned male goat’ or “goat horn”. It is commonly represented in the form of a sea-goat. A mythical creature that is half goat and half fish. In Greek times the constellation represented the goat-headed pan. Pan helped scare the Titans away by blowing onto his conch shell and warning the gods about the monster Typhon. Pan the god, jumped into the river to escape a monster by the name of Typhon which turned his lower half into a fish. Pan was placed in the sky by Zeus in gratitude for rescuing the other god’s. ====

Image from fine artamerica.com

Capricornus has several galaxies, and clusters with planets. It’s brightest stars are: Deneb Algedi (Delta Capricorni), Dabih (Beta Capricorni), and Algiedi (Alpha Capricorni).
Image stars.astro.illinoise.edu

====Deneb Algedi (Delta Capricorni) is a binary star. “A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass.” At first, because of their distance they may look like a single point of light. The Arabic name Deneb Algedi means “the tail of the goat”. It is 39 light-years away from Earth. It has an apparent magnitude of 2.81(both).==== ====Dabih (Beta Capricorni) is a star system. It is a double star. A double star is “a pair of stars that appear close to each other in the sky as seen from Earth when viewed through and optical telescope.” The Arabic name Dabih means “the butcher”. It is 328 light years from Earth. It has an apparent magnitude of +3.05(Dabih Major)+6.09(Dabih Minor) and absolute magnitude of -1.96/+1.08.==== ====Algiedi Prima (Alpha Capricorni) is an optical double star. An optical double star is “unrelated stars that appear close together through chance alignment with Earth.”The Arabic name Algedi means “the goat”. It is 690 light years from Earth. It has an apparent magnitude of +4.30/+8.5.==== ====It also has a Messier object that is a globular cluster. Charles Messier a French astronomer discovered this in 1764. Messier thought this was a nebula and that it was circular. He wrote: “In the night of August 3 to 4, 1764, I have discovered a nebular below the great tail of Capricornus, and very near the star of sixth magnitude, the 41st of that constellation, according to Flamsteed: one sees that nebula with difficulty in an ordinary {non-achromatic} refractor of 3 feet; it is round, and I have not seen any star: having examined it with a good Gregorian telescope which magnifies 104 times, it could have a diameter of 2 minutes of arc. I have compared the center with the star Zeta Capricorni, and I have determined its position in right ascension as 321d 46’ 18”, and it declination as 24d 19’ 4” south. This nebular is marked in the chart of the famous Comet of Halley which I observed at its return in 1759.” 4 But in 1783William Herschel classified the Messier object as cluster.==== ====The best time to see this object is during the month of August. It is invisible to the naked eye. Can be seen by using binoculars or a telescope. Messier 30 is 27,000 light-years from earth and 93 light years across. It is believed to be 12.93 billion years old and that is was acquired from a satellite galaxy rather than forming within the Milky way. "Messier 30 has undergone a core collapse and now has a dense concentration of mass at its core and is one of the highest density regions in our galaxy."3====

Capricornus has 5 meteor showers:

 * 1) ====The Alpha Capricornids- Primary color is yellow ====
 * 2) ====The Chi Capricornids ====
 * 3) ====The Sigma Capricornids ====
 * 4) ====The Tau Capricornids ====
 * 5) ====The Capricorniden- Sagittarids ====

Bibliography [] Constellation Guide: A guide to the night sky.

[] How to see the Sea Goat: Capricornus Constellation Explained Joe Rao, Space.com Skywatching columnist, October 17, 2012

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Messier 30 by Tammy Plotner, June 21, 2009
 * 1) 4 []

[] Capricornus: Facts about the Sea Goat Kim Ann Zimmermann, Space.com Contributor, June 3rd, 2013

[] Copyright © 1995 - 2008 Kathy Miles, Author, and Chuck Peters, Systems Administrator cont[|...]@starryskies.com

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