The Chamaeleon

Learn about the constellation The Chamaeleon, location, facts, mythology, meteor showers and deep space objects.

Chamaeleon was one of twelve constellations created by Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman between 1595 and 1597.

The Chamaeleon is unofficially called "the Frying Pan".

Location: Southern Constellation 11h RA -80° Dec

It first appeared on a 35-cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 or 1598 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius. Johann Bayer was the first cartographer to put Chamaeleon in a celestial atlas. It was one of many constellations created by European explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries out of unfamiliar Southern Hemisphere stars.

Chamaeleon Mythology

Being a modern constellation there is no mythology surrounding this constellation.

Chamaeleon Deep Space Objects

In 1999 a nearby open cluster was discovered centred on the star η Chamaeleontis. The cluster, known as either the Eta Chamaeleontis cluster or Mamajek 1 is 8 million years old. It lies 316 light years from Earth.

The constellation contains several molecular clouds (the Chamaeleon dark clouds) that are forming low-mass T Tauri stars.

The constellation contains one planetary nebula, NGC 3195, which is fairly faint. It appears in a telescope at about the same apparent size as Jupiter.