Star profile
Gamma Chamaeleon
Cool red starWhat is Gamma Chamaeleon
Gamma Chamaeleontis is the dominant light in a small circumpolar constellation known only to southern skies. An evolved red giant, 78 times the Sun's radius and nearly nine hundred times its light, with a surface as cool as embers slowly fading. It pulses with the faintest variability, 418 light-years away, like the barely perceptible heartbeat of a cosmic Chameleon that few have ever contemplated.
Where it is and when to see it
Gamma 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 45° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 11° N.
It ranks no. 2 in brightness among the 19 stars of Chamaeleon in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Chamaeleon, the brightest: it lies about 7° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 420 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Gamma Chamaeleon
- Constellation
- Chamaeleon
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.11
- Distance
- 417.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 158.867° · Dec -78.608°
- Catalogue
- HIP 51839 · HD 92305
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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
- Beta Chamaeleon4.24
- Theta Chamaeleon4.34
- Delta 2 Chamaeleon4.45
- Epsilon Chamaeleon4.88
- Kappa Chamaeleon5.04
- Zeta Chamaeleon5.07
- Iota Chamaeleon5.34