Capricornus

The myth

Capricornus is a strange hybrid, a goat with the tail of a fish. The Babylonians were already drawing it this way more than three thousand years ago. One Greek story ties it to the god Pan, who dived into a river to escape a monster and, in his panic, turned the lower half of himself into a fish.

How to find it

Capricornus is faint, a wide, droopy triangle or lopsided smile of stars low in the autumn sky, sitting between the teapot of Sagittarius and the water of Aquarius. Late summer and early autumn evenings are the best time from the northern hemisphere.

When the Sun is there

Hali’s calculations with the official star boundaries put the Sun in front of Capricornus from about 20 January to 16 February in 2026, an average of 27.4 days a year. The sign Capricorn ran from 21 December to 20 January in 2026, so the Sun reached the sea goat’s stars just as the sign ended. A Capricorn Sun was in front of Sagittarius for 29 of its sign’s 29.4 days. People born under the sign Aquarius had the Sun in front of Capricornus for 27 of their sign’s 29.6 days.

A goat with an old job

The sea goat marked the turning of the year. In the centuries when its stars held the December solstice, the Sun stood here at its lowest and began to climb again, which is why the southern tropic still carries its name. Late classical writers such as Porphyry and Macrobius called this part of the sky the gate of the gods, where souls were said to rise after death, while Cancer opposite was the gate of mortals.

A star you can find in your chart

Deneb Algedi, the goat’s tail, sits at 23 degrees of the sign Aquarius in 2026 by Hali’s star positions, and the Sun passes it around 12 February. Its name is Arabic for the tail of the goat. Ptolemy gave the stars of the goat’s tail the nature of Saturn and Jupiter, and fixed star astrologers read a planet here as a mark of steady, earned authority.

Sign and constellation

Your Capricorn sign is a season-based slice of the zodiac, not this star pattern. See why your star sign is not a constellation. The Capricorn sign guide covers the sign, the Capricorn dates page lists when it starts each year, and the real sky tool shows which constellation was really behind your Sun.