Capricornus.
Capricornus
Pan, mid-transformation: half goat, half fish.
Dec 22 – Jan 19
Capricornus · 414 sq° of sky, brightest star Deneb Algedi
Capricornus (Capricornus) is the smallest zodiac constellation by area, covering 414 square degrees. Its brightest star, Deneb Algedi ("the goat's tail"), is a four-star system 39 light-years from Earth.
Capricornus, the Sea Goat, is one of the most ancient constellations, with its peculiar hybrid form — the foreparts of a goat and the tail of a fish — recorded in Babylonian boundary stones from the 21st century BCE.
Greek myth attaches the figure to the god Pan. When the gods feasted by the Nile, the monster Typhon attacked. Pan dove into the river to escape — but in his panic he transformed his lower half into a fish and his upper half into a goat.
"Pan dove into the Nile to escape Typhon, transforming half-goat, half-fish."
Zeus, amused by Pan's improvised escape, placed the half-goat half-fish form among the stars. Capricornus is faint and small, but ancient — older than most of its zodiac neighbours by a millennium or more.
Where this comes from.
Mythology
- Aratus Phaenomena 283-299
- Hyginus Astronomica 2.28
- Eratosthenes Catasterismi 27
Paintings & illustrations
- The Horses of Neptune — Walter Crane (1892) · Wikimedia · PD
- Capricornus — Sidney Hall (engraver), Jehoshaphat Aspin (text) (1825) · Wikimedia · PD
For fun · sources cited. We don’t publish horoscopes, personality readings, or compatibility takes — just astronomy + classical mythology, with public-domain art where available. See all 88 constellations.