Editing Capricornus (section)

==History ==
The constellation was first attested in depictions on a cylinder-seal from around the 21st&nbsp;century&nbsp;BCE,<ref name=Espak2006>{{cite thesis |type=Masters |title=Master's Thesis |first=Peeter |last=Espak |year=2006 |page=104 |url=http://dspace.utlib.ee/dspace/bitstream/10062/958/5/espakpeeter.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://dspace.utlib.ee/dspace/bitstream/10062/958/5/espakpeeter.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> it was explicitly recorded in the [[Babylonian star catalogues]] before 1000&nbsp;BCE. In the [[Early Bronze Age]] the [[winter solstice]] occurred in the constellation, but due to the [[precession of the equinoxes]], the [[December solstice]] now takes place in the constellation [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]].<ref name=Rogers1998>{{cite journal |first=John H. |last=Rogers |title=Origins of the ancient constellations: I.&nbsp;The Mesopotamian traditions |journal=Journal of the British Astronomical Association |volume=108 |year=1998 |pages=9–28 |bibcode=1998JBAA..108....9R}}</ref> The Sun is now in the constellation Capricorn (as distinct from the astrological sign) from late January through mid-February.{{sfn|Ridpath|Tirion|2001|pp=102–103}}

Although the solstice during the northern hemisphere's winter no longer takes place while the sun is in the ''constellation'' Capricornus, as it did until 130&nbsp;BCE, the [[Capricorn (astrology)|''astrological sign'' called Capricorn]] is still used to denote the position of the solstice, and the latitude of the sun's most southerly position continues to be called the ''[[Tropic of Capricorn]]'', a term which also applies to the line on the Earth at which the sun is directly overhead at local noon on the day of the December solstice.{{sfn|Ridpath|Tirion|2001|pp=102–103}}

The planet [[Neptune]] was discovered by German astronomer [[Johann Gottfried Galle|Johann Galle]], near Deneb Algedi (δ&nbsp;Capricorni) on 23&nbsp;September 1846, as Capricornus can be seen best from Europe at 4:00{{sc|am}} in September (although, by modern constellation boundaries established in the early 20th&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE, Neptune lay within the confines of Aquarius at the time of its discovery).