Constellation, Chameleon
Chamaeleon
The chameleon, a small and faint figure near the south celestial pole, one of the animals named after the first Dutch voyages to the East Indies.
From New York the constellation Chamaeleon never rises above the horizon: it belongs to the other hemisphere’s sky.
From New York the constellation Chamaeleon never rises above the horizon: it belongs to the other hemisphere’s sky.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Chamaeleon. 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
Chamaeleon has no ancient myth, because its stars lie too far south to be seen from Greece. It is one of twelve southern figures based on the observations of the Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman, who charted the southern sky in 1595 to 1597. Petrus Plancius first showed it on a globe in 1598. Chameleons are common in Madagascar, where the Dutch fleet stopped on its way to the East Indies. One of the crew wrote that he saw them flick their tongues at flies to catch and eat them.
On Plancius’s globe the chameleon and its neighbour, the fly, were not linked. On a globe of 1600 Jodocus Hondius turned the chameleon to stick out its tongue at the fly. Johann Bayer copied the pose in his Uranometria of 1603, but he mistook the fly for a bee. The fly is now called Musca. In 1678 Edmond Halley turned the chameleon round with its back to the pole, and it has been drawn that way ever since.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Chamaeleon
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| α Cha | α Cha | 4.05 | 64 light-years |
| γ Cha | γ Cha | 4.11 | 418 light-years |
| β Cha | β Cha | 4.24 | 298 light-years |
| θ Cha | θ Cha | 4.34 | 155 light-years |
| δ2 Cha | δ2 Cha | 4.45 | 351 light-years |
| ε Cha | ε Cha | 4.88 | 362 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 132 square degrees (79 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Cha |
| Sky | Southern sky |
| Origin | First shown on the 1598 celestial globe of Petrus Plancius and Jodocus Hondius, from observations by Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 6 |
| Centre (J2000) | 10.3 h, -79° |
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.