![]() The chameleon and the lizard were messengers of Chiuta, who raced to do his bidding at the beginning of time: informing men of their fate. Extrasolar Planets TableĬhiuta 4 and the Chameleon's message is an African myth which concerns the tale of an all-powerful being who creates life, collects souls in death and controls violent occurrences like earthquakes and stormy weather. HD 63454 is an orange dwarf and its planet HD 63454 b is a gas giant which orbits its star so closely (its year lasts less than three Earth days) that it belongs to the class 'hot Jupiter'. The mass of the extrasolar planet is compared to that of Jupiter, our Solar System's largest planet, known by astronomers as the 'Jovian scale'. The orbital period given in the table below is the time the planet takes to orbit its parent star, which we know of as a year. One extrasolar planetary system has been found in this constellation up to 2008. The molecular cloud Chamæleon I contains the highly photogenic 'cosmic tornado' HH (Herbig-Haro) 49/50. The Eta Chamæleontis Cluster (also catalogued Mamajek 1) is an open star cluster which was discovered in 1999. Only the original data is recorded in the table below. When the NGC/IC project was undertaken the data was revised, and IC 2631 now appears as 'Diffuse Nebula or Supernova Remnant'. When IC 2631 was first discovered it was registered as an emission nebula. Sir Patrick Moore included NGC 3195 in his ' challenge for backyard astronomers' catalogue as Caldwell 109. NGC 3195 is an unusual planetary nebula with an irregular inner disk of various coloured stripes (including pink, green and white), radiating out from the central star like a multicoloured flowerhead. Newer discoveries are listed in different catalogues. This was later expanded to include newer discoveries, and is being continually updated as the NGC/IC project. The NGC was compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer (the director of the Armagh Observatory from 1882 - 1916). R Chamæleontis varies between magnitude +7.5 and +14. This means that it belongs to the same class as the star named Mira (omicron Ceti), which is the prototype of this class of variables. ST Chamæleontis underwent its most recent outburst on 3 September, 2008. ST Chamæleontis is a binary system comprising a cataclysmic variable star (CV) and a 'normal' star, and it is the companion's periastron (closest orbital proximity) which is causing the outbursts. Is it a young star still cooking, or a dying older star swelling prior to exploding as a nova?ĭelta, epsilon, mu and theta Chamæleontis are all binary star systems. Such a puzzle adds interest to an otherwise boring piece of the sky. Chemical analysis of its spectrum provides us with the data 'high lithium' and 'high nitrogen', when usually it is one or the other. Although it is a rare white giant star, it is giving off the luminosity and temperature range of a much-younger dwarf. Stars of ChamæleonĪlpha Chamæleontis is a relative neighbour at just 64 light years distant. Newly discovered variable stars like ST Chamæleontis are given upper case English letters. ![]() Other stars, like HD 63454, are known by their catalogue number. Some stars have proper names as well, for example, alpha Lyrae is a very well-known star called Vega, but there are no named stars in Chamæleon. Stars are known by their ' Bayer designation', that is a Greek letter combined with the genitive of the constellation name. ![]() Even the most fertile imagination struggles to form the shape of a lizard from this star group, Bode's drawing more resembles a dinosaur with a crab's pincer for a beak. The chameleon first appeared in Johann Bayer's Uranometria (star catalogue) of 1603. The Clouds, composed of mostly gas and dust, have a mass of approximately half a million Suns.īordered by Musca, Carina, Volans, Mensa, Octans and Apus, Chamæleon is one of a dozen constellations delineated by Dutch astronomers Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman during their voyage to the southern seas between 15 on board the Hollandia. It is a stellar nursery, where stars known as T Tauri-types 3 are being created. This portion of sky also contains the Chamæleon Dark Clouds, around 500 light years' 2 distance from Earth. ![]() | Vulpecula Karma karma karma karma karma chameleonĬhamæleon the chameleon (because it is well hidden) is in a nondescript section of the sky with no bright stars its most notable feature is the rather gorgeous cosmic tornado HH49/50 (see 'Deep-sky Objects'). ![]()
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