Astronomy Constellation Report Capricornus
Graphic: picture, Capricornus .
Constellations are a manifestation of man’s creative imagination. One such creative individual was Claudius Ptolemaeus, known in English as Ptolemy. Ptolemaeus was a Roman citizen of Greek or Egyptian ancestry. He was a mathematician, geographer, astrologer, poet and a 1st century astronomer. Ptolemaeus was the one who looked to the heavens and saw a group of stars, a constellation that he named as Capricornus. < http://www.answers.com/topic/capricornus>
Capricornus is one of the 88 modern Constellations. It was also one of the 48 constellations listed
by Ptolemaeus. Capricornus is visible in the northern hemisphere in early autumn. It reaches its highest
point on September 1. This ancient constellation has been known since Babylonian and Chaldean times. I
t is represented as a goat with the tail of a fish or translated as "The Sea Goat". It’s one of the dimmest
constellations in the sky. Most of the stars are 3rd magnitude or dimmer. This constellation contains
no notable deep sky objects. The constellation is visible between latitudes 60 and -90 degrees. The
right ascension is 21h47m02.29s and Declination is -16°07'35.7" and Apparent magnitude is 2.855.
With coordinates of 37.61 Longitude and -46.01 Latitude, the brightest star is Del Cap (Deneb Algedi), with a distance of 1, 1136.36 PC. The absolute magnitude is 2.85 and the apparent magnitude is 3.03.This stars Right Ascension is 21 h 47 m 2.445s and its declaration is -16 7’ 38.229”. This star has a spectral class of A1.
The third star to make up Capricornus is 6alp2Cap (Secunda Giedi), with a distance of 1,098.90 PC. The coordinates are 31.10°Longitude and -24.81°Latitude, The absolute magnitude is 3.58 and the apparent magnitude is 4.53.This stars Right Ascension is 20h 18m 3.255s and its declaration is -12° 32' 41.467". This star has a spectral class of G9III.
Fourth on the list of stars to make up Capricornus is 40gam Cap (Nashira), with a distance of 909.09 PC. It has coordinates of 36.01° Longitude and -44.67° Latitude. The absolute magnitude is 3.68 and the apparent magnitude is 4.02.This stars Right Ascension is 21h 40m 5.456s and its declaration is -16° 39' 44.308". This star has a spectral class of F0p.
With coordinates of 26.99°Longitude and -43.59° Latitude, the fifth star to make up Capricornus is 34zet Cap, with a distance of 1,111.11 PC. The absolute magnitude is 3.75 and the apparent magnitude is 4.75.This stars Right Ascension is 21h 26m 40.026s and its declaration is -22° 24' 40.797". This star has a spectral class of G4Ib:Ba2.
The sixth star to make up Capricornus is 23the Cap, with a distance of 1,086.96 PC and coordinates of 31.32° Longitude and -37.29° Latitude. The absolute magnitude is 4.08 and the apparent magnitude is 4.10.This stars Right Ascension is 21h 5m 56.828s and its declaration is -17° 13' 58.299". This star has a spectral class of A1V.
Coordinates of 18.47°Longitude and -37.18°Latitude identify the location of the seventh star to make up Capricornus. This star is 18ome Cap, with a distance of 1,052.63 PC. The absolute magnitude is 4.11 and the apparent magnitude is 5.74.This stars Right Ascension is 20h 51m 49.291s and its declaration is -26° 55' 8.877". This star has a spectral class of M0IIIBa0.5.
With coordinates of 20.01° Longitude and -35.50° Latitude, the eighth star to make up Capricornus is 16psi Cap, with a distance of 1,098.90 PC. The absolute magnitude is 4.15 and the apparent magnitude is 4.58.This stars Right Ascension is 20h 46m 5.733s and its declaration is -25° 16' 15.231". This star has a spectral class of F4V.
The ninth star to make up Capricornus is 5alp1Cap (Prima Giedi), with a distance of 1,041.67 PC and coordinates of 31.10° Longitude and -24.70° Latitude. The absolute magnitude is 4.24 and the apparent magnitude is 5.29. This stars Right Ascension is 20h 17m 38.869s and its declaration is -12° 30' 29.564". This star has a spectral class of G3Ib.
With coordinates of 33.63° Longitude and -40.77° Latitude, the tenth star to make up Capricornus is 32iot Cap, with a distance of 1,250 PC. The absolute magnitude is 4.29 and the apparent magnitude is 5.18. This stars Right Ascension is 21h 22m 14.796s and its declaration is -16° 50' 4.353". This star has a spectral class of G7IIIFe-1.5.
The eleventh and final star to make up Capricornus is 36 Cap with coordinates of 27.98° Longitude
and -43.87° Latitude with a distance of 1,123.60 PC. The absolute magnitude is 4.51 and the apparent
magnitude is 5.40. This stars Right Ascension is 21h 28m 43.400s and its declaration is
-21° 48' 25.848". This star has a spectral class of G7IIIbFe-1.
The eleventh and final star to make up Capricornus is 36 Cap with coordinates of 27.98° Longitude
and -43.87° Latitude with a distance of 1,123.60 PC. The absolute magnitude is 4.51 and the apparent
magnitude is 5.40. This stars Right Ascension is 21h 28m 43.400s and its declaration is
-21° 48' 25.848". This star has a spectral class of G7IIIbFe-1.
One of the stars located in Capricornus is Delta Capricorni or also known as Deneb Algedi. This
star lies approximately 39 light-years away in the northeastern part of the constellation its right
accession is 21 47 02.3 and its declination is -16 07 38. The star is considered to be a white giant
star and has a spectral type of Amv. Deneb Algedi has apparent magnitude brighter than 5, but its
absolute magnitude is 2.87. An interesting fact about this star is it has a surface temperature of
10000 degrees Kelvin and it has a mass greater than 0.08 the sun's mass.
Graphic: picture, Deneb Algedi.
About 2.5 degrees south-southeast lies DABIH (B) BETA, (sometimes called Dabih Major and Minor). Dabih Major, has a magnitude of 3.08 and is 150 light years far, it’s a deep orange star, which is a class F8 V, which is a main sequence star. An interesting fact about DEBIH (B) BETA is it’s also a spectroscopic triple with periods of 8.5 days and about 4 years; its gravitationally bound companion, Dabih Minor, at a separation of 3 minutes 25 seconds, is a sixth-magnitude class-B9 binary, its components only 0.8 second apart (The Constellations, pg. 294 ).
Graphic: picture, DABIH (B) BETA.
NGC 6907 was discovered in Capricornus during the 1800s. A barred spiral galaxy with one spiral arm brighter than the other, the NGCslightly has a fainter magnitude of 11. During the twentieth century astronomers considered another object close by NGC 6908 to be merely a bright spot in the barred spirals brighter arm. However in 2004 astronomer Jason Surace, David Sanders, and Joseph Mazzarella reported that "NGC 6908 is actually a small spiral galaxy superimposed on the northeast arm of NGC 6907." It is now understood that this galaxy is a lenticular galaxy and that it is on a collision course with the barred spiral. The lenticular galaxy is a cross between an elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy. This type of galaxy lacks spiral arms and bars yet it has a disk of stars. NGC 6907 has a magnitude of 6.5 and its distance from Earth of 140 million light-years; the Right Ascension is 20 25 1 and the Declination is -24 49. < http://kencroswell.com/CapricornusCollision.html>
.Graphic: picture, NGC 6907.
Palomar 12 is another galaxy located in the constellation Capricornus. This galaxy is approximately
49,000 light-years from the planet earth. Palomar 12 was discovered in 1953. The Right Ascension is
21h 46.6 m and the Declination is -21° 15’. Fritz Zwicky originally classified as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy,
later on it was found to be a remote globular cluster within the Milky Way. Mr. Zwicky originally
classified this galaxy as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy (he catalogued it with the wrong sign in declination)
and presumed it to be a member of the Local Group. Later it was found actually belong to the halo of
the Milky Way; and then it was catalogued as the twelfth object in the Palomar catalogue of globular
clusters. Palomar 12 has a brightness of 11.99 mag and its apparent Diameter is 17.4 arc min and the
Absolute Magnitude is -4.48 Mag vis.
Graphic: picture, Palomar 12.
This book provides a great deal of information about the constellations. The book was easy to read and it contained great information about the stars that make up Capricornus. The book was useful about the stars, but other than that it didn’t provide that much more information pertaining to Capricornus.
.This site was very was one of the most useful websites I used. It was very easy to navigate through and provide me with great information regarding the stars in my consolation. This site also gave me information about the magnitude, parallax, right accession, declaration, and more.
.This site was another easy and useful webpage, it provide great information about the star Deneb Algedi. The webpage gave the stars location and its right ascension along with its declination. This site gave an interesting fact about this stars temperature and it was easy to navigate.
.This web page helped provided a little information about Capricornus and when it’s visible in the northern hemisphere. It web site gave information about its highest point and a little information about its history. This was a good website because it was easy to follow.
.This web page helped provided great information about the two stars I used in my report. It web site gave information about its highest point and a little information about its history. This was a good website because it was easy to follow.
.This site was one of the most useful; it provided me with a lot of information regarding NGC 6907. This website also provided me with a picture of this galaxy. The readings gave the history of the galaxy and what type and how it was formed; very easy to read and navigate through.
.This site was easy to use and allowed me to gather good information pertaining to Palomar 12. This site gave a little information on its history and where it is located. The information was not that much but what little was on the site was useful.
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