If you look to the east of the heavenly meridian, then below the constellation Eagle you can find the constellation Capricorn. Beginners who like to watch the night sky should bear in mind that it is more noticeable in the areas of the southern regions of Russia. The sun sets in the boundaries of this zodiac constellation in January, so it is most convenient to look at it in the summer.
The Capricorn constellation is very ancient, much older than many other constellations that are in the southern hemisphere of the sky. It stretches exactly between the constellation of Aquarius and Sagittarius. Ancient astronomers, possessing a very rich imagination, placed a small kid on this piece of star-filled sky. Over time, the harmless animal turned into a sea monster: half Goat, half Fish.
Capricorn is a very interesting constellation. His brightest star is Deneb Al Jedi or Sheddy, which in Arabic means "goat's tail." There is also a globular cluster called the M30, discovered by astronomer from France Charles Messier in the mid-18th century, but confirmed only twenty years later by the Englishman Herschel. This cluster is extremely dense, formed by the destruction of the central core, surrounded by cooling stars - red giants. You can observe it even with the help of a small telescope, but finding it without experience is quite difficult.
The Capricorn constellation does not rise very high above the horizon, and in the northern and middle latitudes it is not at all visible very well. To find it, it is necessary to mentally draw a line from the lower peak of the triangle of the constellation Eagle - the Altair star. The constellation Capricorn, whose photo occupies many pages of astronomical publications, is clearly visible during the second half of summer.
The history of the name of the constellation is quite interesting. When astronomers gave the stars names in ancient Greece, the winter solstice point fell on Capricorn, the southern tropic was called the tropic of Capricorn, and the constellation itself was included in the astronomical catalog of the starry sky "Almagest", which was compiled by the legendary Ptolemy. "Goat fish" or the constellation Capricorn received this name because of the divine goat Amelfei.
Once upon a time, the goddess Rhea rescued her little son Zeus from his angry father - Kronos, the deity of time. The fact is that God was predicted a very sad fate: his own son should have deprived him of power. And therefore Kronos swallowed all the children born of Rhea. The goddess in despair hid the child, and wrapped a stone in the diaper, immediately devoured by the deity. Mother hid the baby in Crete, in a mountain cave. And there Afalfey - the goat, or, according to another version, the nymph - nourished the future thunderer. And the faithful servants of the goddess with the help of rattling weapons and rumble on the shields drowned the cry of a young child and amused him. When Zeus grew up, he, filled with gratitude, lifted the nurse to heaven, turning him into a star in the constellation of the Charioteer. And so the desired constellation appeared.
Since then, the constellation Capricorn has always been considered associated with Pan - the patron saint of shepherds and half a goat, a lover of fun, nymphs and nature, fun and wine. Once, fleeing from a terrible monster named Typhon, the deity rushed into the river, and his goat legs turned into a fish tail. So the image of the constellation appeared - half a goat, half a fish. Incidentally, it is in this cluster of stars that Neptune is located.