Capricornus

The Sea-Goat

A faint autumn zodiac constellation shaped like a large crescent or smile, easy to spot in a dark sky south of Altair.

Chart drawn as the sky looks when you face the constellation: north is up and east is to the left. Dot size shows brightness, and color hints at temperature. The connecting lines are one common stick figure; other traditions draw them differently.

Best season: Autumn
Best months: August through October, in the south on late summer and early autumn evenings
Visibility: Visible from everywhere in the United States, low in the south
Abbreviation: Cap

How to find it

Find Altair in Aquila, then look south and a little east for a broad, smile-shaped triangle of faint stars.
Dabih sits at the western end of the smile and Deneb Algedi at the eastern end.

Brightest stars

Deneb Algedi (the tail, the brightest star)
Dabih (a wide double star)
Algedi (a naked-eye pair)

What to look for

Dabih as a double star in binoculars.
The broad smile shape, easiest to see on a dark night.

Binocular and telescope targets

M30: a globular cluster, visible in a small telescope
Dabih: a wide double star

Using it to find other things

Capricornus lies below Aquarius and east of Sagittarius along the zodiac.

About this constellation

Capricornus is a quiet constellation with no bright stars, but its outline is distinctive on a dark night, like a large boat or a smile hanging low in the south.

It is also a useful marker. The Sun, Moon, and planets pass through it, so a bright planet there will stand out against a sparse background.

Related guides

Visibility depends on your latitude, the date, and the time of night. The months above assume a typical evening from the contiguous United States, so use a planetarium app to confirm what is up tonight. Never look at the Sun through binoculars or a telescope without a proper solar filter.

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