Star profile

Pi Chamaeleon

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is Pi Chamaeleon

Pi Chamaeleontis is a relatively nearby yellow-white star, about one hundred and thirty-five light-years away, sitting at the centre of the small austral constellation of the Chameleon. Its pale tone recalls the Sun seen from a distance no human craft today could ever reach, and it belongs to the discreet swarm of stars that outline the mythical animal invented by Dutch navigators of the sixteenth century when they first charted the unknown constellations of the far southern sky.

Where it is and when to see it

Pi 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 48° up.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 14° N.

It ranks no. 14 in brightness among the 19 stars of Chamaeleon in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Chamaeleon, the brightest: it lies about 11° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 140 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Pi Chamaeleon

Constellation: Chamaeleon
Apparent magnitude: 5.64
Distance: 135.4 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 174.316° · Dec -75.897°
Catalogue: HIP 56675 · HD 101132

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Other stars in Chamaeleon

Chamaeleon has 19 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 19 stars in Chamaeleon