Talk:Capricorn

One of the constellations of the zodiac, the sea-goat.

But the English name for the constellation is "Capricorn"...

All the constellation names are Latin. ;) Capricorn is a variant of Capricornus, and I think that in such cases we should follow the International Astronomical Union, even though every now and then its form is less common (the other being Scorpius).

Look it up in a dictionary. The IAU, as I understand it, gives the names of the constellations in Latin, which is perfectly understandable. But we're using English here, not Latin. See, for example, these pages:

http://www.cosmobrain.com/cosmobrain/res/constellations.html

http://www.frostydrew.org/observatory/courses/myths/booklet.htm#Capr

As said, all the constellation names - both versions - are Latin or some slight alteration thereof. In some cases the IAU form is in fact not the original Latin (Scorpius vs Scorpio). Nonetheless they are supposed to be the official versions, for any language, and if you pick up most astronomy texts or star atlases Capricornus is what you will find marked. The dictionary has never been particularly interested in naming all the constellations (you won't find Lacerta) and is giving a form more common thanks to its use in astrology, which has never been that interested in accuracy anyways. Your choice, but I would again suggest that we follow the literature.

Ok, if wikipedia is going to spell Aluminum as Aluminium because that's what the IUPAC standard is, then we should definitely follow the IAU on this one.

---

I think these pages belong under some higher level page, as subpages, like Constellations of the Zodiac. Already the "Cancer" page is being filled in with medical info and the zodiac part is on the bottom. RoseParks

It would be a shame to segregate the zodiac from the rest of the constellations. Other than Cancer, I think the only constellations that will collide are those with heroes for namesakes, and that isn't too bad. And don't we think something like Ursa Major deserves a top level page?

I think Crater will also collide, but I don't think these collisions matter too much. One thing I think is important is that we distinguish between constellations and signs of the Zodiac. One is a region of the celestial sphere, the other is a twelfth part of the ecliptic. One is used for serious purposes, the other is just for astrological nonsense. Obviously they are related to some extent, but separate parts of the article should be devoted to them. And in the case of Capricornus/Capricorn and Scorpius/Scorpio they can even go in separate articles. --Zundark, 2001 Sep 15

I disagree, the constellations of the sky and the constellations of the zodiac are not just related, they are the same thing. Even though the may have slightly different borders - ancient and modern Poland still belong together. None of the constellations are real, and they all have their origins in myths that noone would take seriously today, that I would still hate to separate out, and that pertain as much to the astrology as they do to the astronomy. I do think some separation within a single article would be entirely appropriate, though. --Josh Grosse

Oh, well. In that case the whole Capricorn article has to be moved to Capricornus, as we can't have the constellation under Capricorn. So I'll do that. --Zundark, 2001 Sep 15

Primarly, capricorn is an animal, belonging to the goats. There are links to the page Capricorn from other languages describing this animal, and now they end up on a link, which is redirected to something describing a star constellation. Looks strange. Whenever this is corrected, the language link in Swedish should be [[sv:Stenbock]] Dan Koehl 20:43 26 May 2003 (UTC)

I've checked several dictionaries, and the only meanings I find for the word in English are (a) the constellation Capricornus, (b) the tenth sign of the zodiac, and (c) a person born under that sign. So the current redirect to Capricornus is correct, because (rightly or wrongly) we always deal with signs of the zodiac on the same page as the corresponding constellation. Any links to Capricorn which expect it to be about an animal are incorrect and should be changed. According to the Stenbock article in the Swedish Wikipedia (http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenbock), Stenbock is the Swedish name for Capra ibex, which is called an ibex in English. --Zundark 08:29 27 May 2003 (UTC)