The Chamaeleon Complex is the family of dark clouds near the south celestial pole, one of the nearest regions forming low-mass stars, away from the Galactic plane.
At a glance
| type | nebula |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 620 light-years (190 pc) |
| its light left it | 620 years ago |
| size in the piece | about 26 light-years acrossmodel |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with. Model marks a property of the piece’s galaxy model rather than a measurement.
About Chamaeleon Complex
Three main clouds make up the complex, known as Chamaeleon I, II and III, with smaller wisps around them. They lie well below the Milky Way on the sky, so few background stars confuse the picture and the young stars they hold stand out clearly in surveys.
The clouds differ in how active they are: Chamaeleon I is rich in young stars and small reflection nebulae, the second less so, and the third shows hardly any star formation at all. Comparing them is a way to see clouds at different stages. The piece also carries the Chamaeleon Cloud as a separate entry for the same family of clouds.
What you see in the piece
From Earth it is a set of dark smudges in a sparse part of the southern sky; the infrared band brings out the dust and its young stars.
Questions
How far away is the Chamaeleon Complex?
The Chamaeleon Complex is about 620 light-years (190 pc) from the Sun.
How many clouds are in the Chamaeleon Complex?
Three main clouds, Chamaeleon I, II and III, plus smaller wisps; the first is the most active in forming stars.