Star profile
Alpha Chamaeleon
What is Alpha Chamaeleon
Alpha Chamaeleontis is the principal light of the Chameleon, a small constellation charted by the navigators Pieter Keyser and Frederick de Houtman on their return from the East Indies in 1597. A yellow-white type F star roughly 64 light-years away, it is among the nearest in the far southern repertoire. Its quiet, steady light marks the polar sky known only to austral sailors and inhabitants of the southern hemisphere.
Where it is and when to see it
Alpha Chamaeleon lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is May: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Alpha Chamaeleon
- Constellation
- Chamaeleon
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.05
- Distance
- 63.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 124.631° · Dec -76.920°
- Catalogue
- HIP 40702 · HD 71243
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Chamaeleon
Chamaeleon has 19 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Gamma Chamaeleon4.11
- Beta Chamaeleon4.24
- Theta Chamaeleon4.34
- Delta 2 Chamaeleon4.45
- Epsilon Chamaeleon4.88
- Kappa Chamaeleon5.04
- Zeta Chamaeleon5.07
- Iota Chamaeleon5.34