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: 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.
It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.
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.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.
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 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
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.
- 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