Star profile

Kappa Chamaeleon

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Kappa Chamaeleon

Kappa Chamaeleontis is an orange K-type giant about 477 light-years away, in the small southern constellation of the Chameleon, close to the south celestial pole. Too far below the European horizon to have earned a classical name, it belongs to the string of stars charted only by southern-hemisphere navigators, in a time when the austral sky was still territory waiting to be named.

Where it is and when to see it

Kappa 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 47° up.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 13° N.

It ranks no. 7 in brightness among the 19 stars of Chamaeleon in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Chamaeleon, the brightest: it lies about 13° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 480 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Kappa Chamaeleon

Constellation: Chamaeleon
Apparent magnitude: 5.04
Distance: 476.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 181.194° · Dec -76.519°
Catalogue: HIP 58905 · HD 104902

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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