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

One of the oldest recognised constellations, it appears on Babylonian clay tablets and Ptolemy's second-century list

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, September is an excellent time to search for the faint constellation of Capricornus, the sea goat, one of the oldest recognised constellations. It appears on Ptolemy's second-century list of 48, and even before that on Babylonian clay tablets that date from a few thousand years BC.

Capricornus is depicted to be a chimera, a mythical creature containing the body and head of a goat and the tail of a fish. In Greek mythology it is often associated with Amalthea, who hid the young Zeus from his child-devouring father, Cronos, or Pan the shepherd god.