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Capricornus

Legend

Capricornus

Capricornus is one of the oldest known constellations. The ancient Babylonians called it the Goat-Fish, and said it ruled the part of the sky from which the mighty Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowed. The Greeks also saw Capricornus as a creature that was half-goat and half-fish. They associated it with the god Pan, who had a human torso and face, but goat legs and goat horns. One story about Pan is that he jumped in the river Nile to escape the sea monster Typhon. The part of him below the water turned into a fish, while the rest of his body remained a goat.

Capricornus is a hard constellation to find — it doesn't have any bright stars, and it never gets very high in the sky. It's also the smallest of all the zodiacal constellations!

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