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: 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.

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The signature wall

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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 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

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.

See all 19 stars in Chamaeleon