Capricornus (abbr. Cap, gen. Capricorni) The Sea Goat; an extensive but dull southern constellation and the tenth sign of the zodiac. It lies to the north of Microscopium and Pisces Austrinus, to the west and south of Aquarius, and to the southeast of Aquila. In ancient times the Sun was in Capricorn at the winter solstice but, because of precession, is now in neighboring Sagittarius at this time of the year. The latitude on Earth on which Capricorn appears overhead of an observer is still known as the Tropic of Capricorn. Among the constellation's deep-sky objects are the globular cluster M30 (NGC 7099), which is easily seen with a small telescope but difficult to resolve into individual stars (magnitude 7.7; diameter 11'; distance 41,000 light-years; R.A. 21h 40.4m, Dec. 23° 11') and the Capricornus Dwarf. See below for details of the constellation's brightest stars.
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