The Chamaeleon

Chamaeleon was one of twelve constellations created by Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman between 1595 and 1597.

The Chamaeleon is unofficially called "the Frying Pan".

Location: Southern Constellation 11h RA -80° Dec

It first appeared on a 35-cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 or 1598 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius. Johann Bayer was the first uranographer to put Chamaeleon in a celestial atlas. It was one of many constellations created by European explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries out of unfamiliar Southern Hemisphere stars.

Chamaeleon Mythology

Being a modern constellation there is no mythology surrounding this constellation.

Chamaeleon Deep Space Objects

In 1999 a nearby open cluster was discovered centered on the star η Chamaeleontis. The cluster, known as either the Eta Chamaeleontis cluster or Mamajek 1 is 8 million years old. It lies 316 light years from Earth.

The constellation contains a number of molecular clouds (the Chamaeleon dark clouds) that are forming low-mass T Tauri stars.

The constellation contains one planetary nebula, NGC 3195, which is fairly faint. It appears in a telescope at about the same apparent size as Jupiter.