Chamaeleon
What is Chamaeleon?
Constellations· Southern sky, all year · a small quadrilateral near the pole. A chameleon drawn by 16th-century navigators. A small quadrilateral close to the south celestial pole, it lies in the direction of the Chamaeleon molecular cloud where young stars are still forming.
📍 Visible from where you are right now — computed in your browser
bearing · altitude · rise time · best time tonight
Where Chamaeleon is in your sky right now: https://nowsky.org/solar/sky?sel=con:Chamaeleon — location and time set automatically, no login.
Stars of the figure
| Star | Magnitude |
|---|---|
| Alpha Chamaeleontis | 4.1 |
The 1 brightest of the 2 stars used in the figure (1 lines). Lower magnitude means brighter.
Constellation basics
| Season | circumpolar in the south, best Mar–Apr; never visible from Korea |
|---|---|
| Brightest star | α Chamaeleontis, mag 4.1 |
| How to find | south of Crux, between Carina and the south celestial pole |
| Area rank | 79th of 88 |
Figures are representative approximations. Source: compiled from NASA and IAU public data.
Frequently asked
- When can I see Chamaeleon?
- circumpolar in the south, best Mar–Apr; never visible from Korea.
- How do I find Chamaeleon?
- south of Crux, between Carina and the south celestial pole.
- What is the brightest star in Chamaeleon?
- Alpha Chamaeleontis, magnitude 4.1.
- Where is Chamaeleon in the sky right now?
- Open the sky view for your location and time and it shows the position in the sky right now.
Neither star nor planet — the free-floater in Chamaeleon
In 2005 an object floating alone, with no star, was found in the Chamaeleon molecular cloud. Named Cha 110913-773444, it has about eight times the mass of Jupiter, too light to be a star, orbits no star at all, and yet carries a disk of dust around it. A wanderer with a disk holding the raw material of planets, it raised the question of what such a thing should be called.
Objects of this kind, born from a collapsing cloud like a star yet of only planetary mass, are now known in the hundreds, and telling those flung out from beside a star from those born alone is an open problem. About two million years old, this one may yet form satellite-sized bodies from its disk. The small constellation near the south celestial pole holds a specimen that asks where the line between star and planet lies.
The constellation in depth
Chamaeleon is one of the twelve southern constellations recorded by Dutch navigators in the 1590s and published in Bayer's atlas of 1603. Old charts often drew it with its tongue flicking toward the neighbouring Fly, Musca. Lying within about 10° of the south celestial pole, it never sets from the southern hemisphere. It ranks 79th in area among the 88 constellations.
Its stars are all fourth magnitude, but the direction is rich. The Chamaeleon molecular cloud, about 500 light-years away, is one of the nearest star-forming regions to the Sun, with hundreds of newborn stars and brown dwarfs identified. The planetary nebula NGC 3195, visible in small telescopes, is the constellation's best-known deep-sky object. Most of these young objects, though, are targets for large telescopes rather than the eye.
At declinations of −75° to −83° it cannot be seen from Korea. In the southern hemisphere it is circumpolar and climbs highest on March and April evenings: head south from the Southern Cross and stop short of the pole to find the small quadrilateral. In the Sky view, set Sydney on an April evening and look south.
Related
Figures are representative approximations. Simulated positions use J2000 mean elements.