Chamaeleon Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

Chamaeleon is classified as one of the 88 modern constellations. It has no associated history in ancient Western cultures because it was not visible in those regions.

It is known that Chamaeleon is one of the faintest constellations and that most of its stars cannot be seen with the naked eye, so it was necessary to wait for telescopes to be invented to see it.

Chamaeleon was one of the twelve constellations created by Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman.

The constellation Chamaeleon first appeared on a celestial globe published in 1597 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius. They represented the constellation with the figure of a small lizard.

Later, Johann Bayer was the first cartographer to put Chamaeleon in a celestial atlas designating his brightest stars.

In 1922 the International Astronomical Association added the constellation Chamaeleon to the list of the 88 official constellations of the night sky. Since then, it has not undergone modifications in its boundaries or name.

Chamaeleon ranks 79th in size among the 88 constellations, covering an area of only 132 square degrees in the celestial vault.

Chamaeleon resides in the second quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere (SQ2) between latitudes 0° N and 90° S.

Chamaeleon is visible in South America, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.

Chamaeleon is not visible in any Northern Hemisphere region; this includes the US, Europe, Russia, China, or Japan.

Chamaeleon is a constellation located in the southern hemisphere, the best month to view it is April.

The constellation Chamaeleon is not visible in the Northern Hemisphere in any season, while in the southern hemisphere it is visible during the fall.

People living in the northern hemisphere cannot locate this constellation in the sky.

The easiest way to locate the constellation Chamaeleon is by drawing an imaginary straight line from the star Miaplacidus of the constellation Carina towards the closest point to the south celestial pole; Chamaeleon is halfway.

The constellations bordering Chamaeleon are Musca, Carina, Volans, Mensa, Octans, and Apus.

In addition, Chamaeleon belongs to the Johann Bayer family of constellations; these include Apus, Dorado, Grus, Hydrus, Indus, Musca, Pavo, Phoenix, Tucana, and Volans.

The constellation Chamaeleon officially contains 31 stars, of which 6 form the central figure of the constellation; these are Alpha Chamaeleontis, Gamma Chamaeleontis, Beta Chamaeleontis, Theta Chamaeleontis, Epsilon Chamaeleontis, and Delta-1 Chamaeleontis.

It is the brightest star in the constellation Chamaeleon with an apparent magnitude of +4.05. It is 63.5 light-years from the Solar System.

Alpha Chamaeleontis is a white-yellow star cataloged as a yellow dwarf of spectral type F5V. Its luminosity is 7.1 times that of the Sun, and its surface temperature is approximately 6770 K.

With an apparent magnitude of +4.09, Gamma Chamaeleontis is the second brightest star in the constellation Chamaeleon. It is 417 light-years away from the solar system.

Gamma Chamaeleontis is a cold red giant of spectral type M0III with a surface temperature of 3320 K. Its radius is 87 times larger than the solar radius.

Chamaeleon is also home to a couple of deep-sky objects. Deep-sky objects often mean star clusters, nebulae (body of interstellar clouds), or galaxies.

In the case of Chamaeleon, because it is a small constellation, it only has star clusters and nebulae. Some of them are:

The southernmost planetary nebula of all the bright and sizable planetary nebulae in the sky, NGC 3195 is also the most amazing deep-sky body in the constellation Chamaeleon.

This nebula remains hidden from all northern observers due to its location in the constellation Chamaeleon.

It is a nearby open cluster centered on the star η Chamaeleontis. It is estimated to be 8 million years old and located 316 light-years from Earth.

• Chamaeleon is a constellation located primarily in the Southern Hemisphere. This constellation is associated with the reptile of the same name that changes color according to its environment.
• The constellation Chamaeleon lies between latitudes 0° N and 90° S. The best month to observe the constellation is in April.
• The most accessible form to locate the constellation Chamaeleon is drawing an imaginary straight line from the star Miaplacidus of the constellation Carina towards the point closest to the south celestial pole; Chamaeleon is halfway.
• The brightest star in the constellation Chamaeleon is Alpha Chamaeleontis (α Cha / HD 71243 / HR 3318), with an apparent magnitude of +4.05.
• The most notable deep sky body in the constellation Chamaeleon is Nebula NGC 3195.

1. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/chamaeleon-constellation/
2. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-chamaeleon.html
3. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chamaeleon
4. https://theplanets.org/constellations/chamaeleon-constellation/