Star profile
Zeta Chamaeleon
Variable starWhat is Zeta Chamaeleon
Zeta Chamaeleontis is a blue eclipsing binary: two stars close enough to deform each other, swinging around every 2.7 days and showing a brightness that shifts continuously thanks to their ellipsoidal shape. It burns above 15,000 K and pours out the light of some 522 Suns. It hides at 572 light-years inside Chamaeleon, one of the most southerly and silent constellations in the sky.
Where it is and when to see it
Zeta 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, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 43° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 9° N.
It ranks no. 8 in brightness among the 19 stars of Chamaeleon in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Chamaeleon, the brightest: it lies about 5° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 570 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Zeta Chamaeleon
- Constellation
- Chamaeleon
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.07
- Distance
- 572.3 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 143.473° · Dec -80.941°
- Catalogue
- HIP 46928 · HD 83979
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Other stars in Chamaeleon
Chamaeleon has 19 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Chamaeleon4.05
- Gamma Chamaeleon4.11
- Beta Chamaeleon4.24
- Delta 2 Chamaeleon4.45
- Epsilon Chamaeleon4.88
- Kappa Chamaeleon5.04
- Iota Chamaeleon5.34
- Nu Chamaeleon5.43