Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Tuesday, October 5th.  The sun will rise at 7:45.  It’ll be up for 11 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 7:15.   The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:22 tomorrow morning.

2000 years ago the southernmost of the constellations of the zodiac was Capricornus the water goat.  That’s why the latitude on the earth where the sun is overhead on the winter solstice is called the Tropic of Capricorn.  Not any more, Sagittarius, one constellation west, has that honor today.  Actually Capricornus does need the press.  It’s large, but made up of dim stars.  To me it looks like a 45 degree isosceles triangle, long side up, but which all the sides are sagging.  The constellation is found low in the south at 10 p.m. and tilted a bit from the upper right to the lower left.  The image that is supposed to be represented by the stars is that of a goat whose hind quarters are replaced by a fish’s tail, not a mermaid but a mer-goat.

*Times are for the Grand Traverse Area of Northern Michigan, USA.