Constellation, Engraving Tool
Caelum
The engraver’s chisel, a small and faint southern figure that Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille added in the 1750s among his tools of art and science.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Caelum rises at 12:55 AM, is highest at 4:11 AM (11° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 7:26 AM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Caelum. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
Caelum has no myth. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille created it while charting the southern sky from the Cape of Good Hope, as one of fourteen new figures that mostly honour the tools of the arts and sciences. This one stands for the engraver’s craft. On his chart of 1756 it was les Burins, two engraving tools crossed and tied with a ribbon. One was a burin, a sharp chisel also called a graver. The other was an échoppe, a kind of etching needle. Today it is simply called the chisel.
Lacaille’s Latin name on his chart of 1763 was Caelum Scalptorium. In 1844 John Herschel proposed shortening it to Caelum, and the English astronomer Francis Baily adopted the short name in his catalogue of 1845. Its stars are all faint.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Caelum
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| α Cae | α Cae | 4.44 | 66 light-years |
| γ1 Cae | γ1 Cae | 4.55 | 181 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 126 square degrees (81 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Cae |
| Sky | Southern sky |
| Origin | First shown on Lacaille’s planisphere of the southern sky, from his 1751–52 observations at the Cape of Good Hope |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 2 |
| Centre (J2000) | 4.8 h, -38° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
No deep-sky object brighter than magnitude 9.
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.