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Description

Sixteenth in my Constellations series of stamps.

Capricornus is one of the 48 Constellations of Ptolemy, one of the 12 Zodiac Constellations and one of the 88 modern Constellations. In Classical Mythology the constellation represents Amalthea, the goat who raised Zeus after his mother, Rhea, rescued him from being eaten by his father. In honour of her role as his foster mother, Zeus placed Amalthea in the sky. Another legend states the constellation represents Pricus, who fathered a race of sea-goats. They could speak and think, and were favoured by the gods. Cronus, the God of Time, gave Pricus immortality and time manipulation. When the sea-goats climbed ashore, they lost their abilities to think and speak. Pricus attempted to stop the sea-goats from leaving the sea, but eventually, he was forced to resign the fact that his descendants would leave the sea, and so begged Cronus to let him die. However, because Pricus was immortal, Cronus decided to place the sea-goat in the sky. A third myth states that the constellation represents Pan, the goat-headed god, who escaped the monster Typhon by giving himself a fish's tail and diving into the sea. Capricornus is a faint Constellation; the brightest star is Deneb, which will be the Pole Star in 9800 AD. The Constellation has a galaxy group, HCG 87, made up of three galaxies. The group is interesting to astronomers, as the three galaxies have high rates of star formation; a sign of close galaxies interacting.

Description

Sixteenth in my Constellations series of stamps.

Capricornus is one of the 48 Constellations of Ptolemy, one of the 12 Zodiac Constellations and one of the 88 modern Constellations. In Classical Mythology the constellation represents Amalthea, the goat who raised Zeus after his mother, Rhea, rescued him from being eaten by his father. In honour of her role as his foster mother, Zeus placed Amalthea in the sky. Another legend states the constellation represents Pricus, who fathered a race of sea-goats. They could speak and think, and were favoured by the gods. Cronus, the God of Time, gave Pricus immortality and time manipulation. When the sea-goats climbed ashore, they lost their abilities to think and speak. Pricus attempted to stop the sea-goats from leaving the sea, but eventually, he was forced to resign the fact that his descendants would leave the sea, and so begged Cronus to let him die. However, because Pricus was immortal, Cronus decided to place the sea-goat in the sky. A third myth states that the constellation represents Pan, the goat-headed god, who escaped the monster Typhon by giving himself a fish's tail and diving into the sea. Capricornus is a faint Constellation; the brightest star is Deneb, which will be the Pole Star in 9800 AD. The Constellation has a galaxy group, HCG 87, made up of three galaxies. The group is interesting to astronomers, as the three galaxies have high rates of star formation; a sign of close galaxies interacting.