Constellation Chamaeleon (Chameleon)

Properties

Chameleon is in inconspicuous constellation near the South Pole, south of the bright star Miaplacidus (beta Carinae). The stars are faint and hardly reach 4th magnitude. They roughly form the figure of an elongated diamond. The constellation covers an area of only 132 square degrees. The center culminates around midnight on February 28th. ^{[9, 15]}

Data for constellation Chamaeleon ^[150]
IAU Name	Chamaeleon
IAU Genitive	Chamaeleontis
IAU Abbr.	Cha
English Name	Chameleon
Season (47° N)	Not visible
Right Ascension	07^h 26^m 37^s … 13^h 56^m 27^s
Declination	-83° 07' 12" … -75° 17' 24"
Area	132 deg²
Neighbours (N↻)	Car, Vol, Men, Oct, Aps, Mus

History

This constellation was introduced in 1603 by Johann Bayer in his Uranometria, the atlas of the entire starry sky. It represents the reptile of the same name, which is known for its ability to adapt the skin color to its surroundings. ^[7]

Catalogs

Yale Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed. (Hoffleit+, 1991) ^[154]
HR	B	RA [hms]	Dec [dms]	vMag	spType	dMag	Sep ["]
3318	α	08 18 31.6	-76 55 11	4.07	F5III
3340	θ	08 20 38.5	-77 29 04	4.35	K2IIICN0.5	7.7	31.
3502	η	08 41 19.5	-78 57 48	5.47	B8V
3795	ι	09 24 09.1	-80 47 13	5.36	F3-5IV v
3860	ζ	09 33 53.2	-80 56 29	5.11	B5V
3902	ν	09 46 20.6	-76 46 34	5.45	G8III
3983	μ¹	10 00 43.7	-82 12 53	5.52	A0IV
3997	μ²	10 04 07.6	-81 33 57	6.60	G6-8III
4174	γ	10 35 28.1	-78 36 28	4.11	M0III
4231	δ¹	10 45 15.7	-80 28 11	5.47	K0III	0.3	0.6
4234	δ²	10 45 46.8	-80 32 25	4.45	B2.5IV
4479	π	11 37 15.6	-75 53 48	5.65	F1III
4583	ε	11 59 37.3	-78 13 19	4.91	B9Vn	0.6	0.9
4605	κ	12 04 46.5	-76 31 09	5.04	K4III
4674	β	12 18 20.7	-79 18 44	4.26	B5Vn

Revised+Historic NGC/IC, Version 22/9, © Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke ^[277]
Planetary Nebulae
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 3195	10 09 21.1	-80 51 29	PN	11.5	11.6	0.7 × 0.5	! planetary, pB, S, lE, 13s d, 3 S st nr	PK 296-20.1, ESO 19-PN2, AM 1009-803
Galactic Nebulae
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
IC 2631	11 09 52.4	-76 36 57	RN				* 9 in L neb	CED 112
Galaxies
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 2915	09 26 13.6	-76 37 36	SBa	13.3	12.7	1.9 × 0.9	pF, pL, R, gbM	ESO 37-3, AM 0926-762, IRAS 09265-7624
NGC 3149	10 03 43.4	-80 25 20	Sb	13.4	12.6	2 × 1.9	F, S, lE, vlbM, * 15 inv	ESO 19-1, IRAS 10043-8010
NGC 3620	11 16 05.0	-76 13 02	SBab	14.1	13.3	2.7 × 1.1	F, pS, pmE, gbM	ESO 38-10, IRAS 11143-7556
IC 3104	12 18 46.1	-79 43 51	IBm	13.2	12.6	3.7 × 1.7	eeF, cS, or vS Cl, * 12 sp 0'.5	ESO 20-4, AM 1215-793, Pos of bright w knot

References

7	«Der grosse Kosmos-Himmelsführer» von Ian Ridpath und Wil Tirion; Kosmos Verlag; ISBN 3-440-05787-9
9	«Drehbare Sternkarte SIRIUS» von H. Suter-Haug; Hallwag-Verlag, Bern
15	«Hartung's Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes» by David Malin and David J. Frew; Melbourne University Press 1995; ISBN 0-522-84553-3
150	IAU: The Constellations, 11. Oktober 2020; iau.org/public/themes/constellations
154	Yale Bright Star Catalog, 15. Oktober 2020; tdc-www.harvard.edu/catalogs/bsc5.html
277	«Historische Deep-Sky Kataloge» von Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke; klima-luft.de/steinicke (2021-02-17)