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Chamaeleon (Chinese Astronomy)
The modern constellation Chamaeleon is not included in the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions system of traditional Chinese uranography because its stars are too far south for observers in China to know about them prior to the introduction of Western star charts. Based on the work of Xu Guangqi and the German Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell in the late Ming Dynasty, this constellation has been classified as one of the 23 Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, ''Jìnnánjíxīngōu'') under the name Little Dipper (小斗, ''Xiǎodǒu''). The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 蝘蜓座 (''yǎn tíng zuò''), meaning "the flying gecko constellation". Stars The map of Chinese constellation in constellation Chamaeleon area consists of : See also *Chinese astronomy *Traditional Chinese star names *Chinese constellations Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into asterisms or constellations, known as " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chamaeleon
Chamaeleon () is a small constellation in the deep southern sky. It is named after the chameleon, a kind of lizard. It was first defined in the 16th century. History Chamaeleon was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. 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. Features Stars There are four bright stars in Chamaeleon that form a compact diamond-shape approximately 10 degrees from the south celestial pole and about 15 degrees south of Acrux, along the axis formed by Acrux and Gamma Crucis. Alpha Chamaeleontis is a white-hued star of magnitude 4.1, 63 light-years from Earth. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamma Chamaeleontis
Gamma Chamaeleontis, Latinized from γ Chamaeleontis, is a solitary star located in the southern circumpolar constellation of Chamaeleon. It can faintly be seen with the naked eye on a dark night, having an apparent visual magnitude of 4.12. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 7.81 mas, it is located around 418 light years from the Sun. This is an evolved K-type giant star with a stellar classification of K5 III. The measured angular diameter, after correction for limb darkening, is . At the estimated distance of the star, this yields a physical size of about 67 times the radius of the Sun. It is a suspected variable star, with an amplitude of 0.01 magnitude. The star radiates 864 times the solar luminosity from its outer atmosphere with an effective temperature The effective temperature of a body such as a star or planet is the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total amount of electromagnetic radiation. Effective temperature is of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Astronomy
Astronomy in China has a long history stretching from the Shang dynasty, being refined over a period of more than 3,000 years. The ancient Chinese people have identified stars from 1300 BCE, as Chinese star names later categorized in the twenty-eight mansions have been found on oracle bones unearthed at Anyang, dating back to the mid-Shang dynasty. The core of the "mansion" (宿 ''xiù'') system also took shape around this period, by the time of King Wu Ding (1250–1192 BCE). Detailed records of astronomical observations began during the Warring States period (fourth century BCE) and flourished from the Han period onward. Chinese astronomy was equatorial, centered on close observation of circumpolar stars, and was based on different principles from those in traditional Western astronomy, where heliacal risings and settings of zodiac constellations formed the basic ecliptic framework. Joseph Needham has described the ancient Chinese as the most persistent and accurate obser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpha Chamaeleontis
Alpha Chamaeleontis, Latinized from α Chamaeleontis, is a solitary star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Chamaeleon. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.06 and thus is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. With an annual parallax shift of 51.12 mas, it is located 63.8 light years from the Sun. The star is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −13 km/s, and is predicted to come to within in 666,000 years. This is an F-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of , where the 'Fe−0.8' notation indicates an anomalously low abundance of iron. It has an estimated 1.4 times the mass of the Sun, 2.1 times the Sun's radius, and radiates 7.5 times the solar luminosity from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 6,580 K. The star is around 1.8 billion years old with a projected rotational velocity that is too low to be measured. The star has been examined for an infrared excess that would sug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theta Chamaeleontis
Theta Chamaeleontis, Latinized from θ Cha, is a single, orange-hued star located in the southern constellation of Chamaeleon. It is a dim star but visible to the naked eye with an apparent magnitude of 4.34. Parallax measurements by the Hipparcos spacecraft put the system at 155 light-years, or 47.6 parsecs away. It is moving away from the Sun with a radial velocity of +22 km/s. Theta Chamaeleontis is an evolved K-type giant star with a stellar classification of , where the suffix notation indicates the outer atmosphere has a mild overabundance of cyanogen. It has 0.94 times the mass of the Sun, and has expanded to 11.5 times as wide. The star is radiating 60 times the Sun's luminosity from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,570 K. It has a visual companion, Theta Chamaeleontis B. This is a magnitude 12.44 star at an angular separation of 21.1 arcseconds from component A along a position angle In astronomy, position angle (usual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eta Chamaeleontis
Eta Chamaeleontis, Latinized from η Chamaeleontis, is a star in the constellation Chamaeleon. It has an apparent magnitude of about 5.5, meaning that it is just barely visible to the naked eye. Based upon parallax measurements, this star is located some light years (95 parsecs) away from the Sun. Eta Chamaeleontis has a spectral type of B8V, meaning it is a B-type main sequence star. Stars of this type are typically a few times more massive than the Sun and have effective temperatures of about 10,000 to 30,000 K. Eta Chamaeleontis is just over 3 times more massive than the Sun and has a temperature of about 12,000 K. Eta Chamaeleontis cluster Eta Chamaeleontis is the brightest and most massive member of the eponymous Eta Chamaeleontis cluster (also known as the Eta Chamaeleontis association or Mamajek 1, pronounced ), a very nearby (316 light years), and young (8 million years old) stellar moving group discovered in 1999. The cluster contains nearly 20 stellar membe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iota Chamaeleontis
ι Chamaeleontis, Latinized as Iota Chamaeleontis, is a single star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Chamaeleon. It is visible to the naked eye as a dim, yellow-white hued point of light, having an apparent magnitude of about 5.3. Based upon parallax measurements, this star is around 188 light years away from the Sun, but it is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −4 km/s. Spectra of the star taken in different years have been given types of F3IV/V and F5III, leading to a mean published type of F3/5 III/V, with the suspicion that the spectrum is variable. It is an F-type star, likely an evolving subgiant. It is 1.2 billion years old with 3.6 times the Sun's radius. The star has a high rate of spin with a projected rotational velocity of 130 km/s, which is giving it an oblate shape with an equatorial bulge some 9% larger than the polar radius. It is radiating over 20 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeta Chamaeleontis
Zeta Chamaeleontis, Latinized from ζ Chamaeleontis, is a star located in the constellation Chamaeleon. Located around 540 light-years distant, it shines with a luminosity approximately 522 times that of the Sun and has a surface temperature of 15,655 K. South African Astronomer A.W.J. Cousins noted ζ Cha to vary between magnitudes 5.06 and 5.17 in 1960. It was classified as a Beta Cephei variable in the Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues (ESA 1997), with a period of 1.07 days, before being reclassified as a slowly pulsating B star in the 2011 version. It is now known to be an eclipsing binary star, with a period of 2.7 days, with continuous variation through the whole cycle due to the ellipsoidal shape of the component stars. It is a B5V main sequence star with an effective temperature of , an absolute magnitude of −1.15 and a mass of 3.1 solar masses, although the properties are evaluated treating the system as a single star. References {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeta Chama ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delta2 Chamaeleontis
Delta2 Chamaeleontis, Latinized from δ2 Chamaeleontis, is a solitary star located in the southern circumpolar constellation of Chamaeleon. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.42, which is bright enough for the star to seen with the naked eye. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 9.30 mas, it is located around 351 light years from the Sun. This star is one of two stars named Delta Chamaeleontis, the other being the fainter Delta1 Chamaeleontis located about 6 arcminutes away. Delta Chamaeleontis forms the southernmost component of the constellation's "dipper" or bowl. Together with Gamma Chamaeleontis, they point to a spot that is within 2° of the south celestial pole. This is a B-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of B3 V. However, Hiltner et al. (1969) give a classification of B2.5 IV, which would suggest it is a more evolved subgiant star. It is estimated to have five times the mass of the Sun and 3.9 times the Sun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epsilon Chamaeleontis
Epsilon Chamaeleontis, Latinized from ε Chamaeleontis, is a triple star located in the southern circumpolar constellation Chamaeleon. The primary and secondary have apparent magnitudes of 5.33 and 6.02, making them visible to the naked eye. Hipparcos parallax measurements place the system at a distance of 360 light years and is currently receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of . The primary has a stellar classification of B9 Vn:, indicating that it is a B-type main-sequence star with broad/nebulous absorption lines due to rapid rotation. However, there is uncertainty behind the suffix. It has 2.9 times the mass of the Sun and 2.3 times its solar radius. It radiates a bolometric luminosity 100 times that of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of , giving it a bluish-white hue. It is a relatively young star with an age of only 3 million years. Like many hot stars it spins rapidly, having a projected rotational velocity of . Epsilon Chamaeleont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Enclosures
Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into asterisms or constellations, known as "officials" (Chinese ''xīng guān''). The Chinese asterisms are generally smaller than the constellations of Hellenistic tradition. The Song dynasty (13th-century) Suzhou planisphere shows a total of 283 asterisms, comprising a total of 1,565 individual stars. The asterisms are divided into four groups, the Twenty-Eight Mansions (, ''Èrshíbā Xiù'') along the ecliptic, and the Three Enclosures of the northern sky. The southern sky was added as a fifth group in the late Ming Dynasty based on European star charts, comprising an additional 23 asterisms. The Three Enclosures (, ''Sān Yuán'') include the Purple Forbidden Enclosure, which is centered on the north celestial pole and includes those stars which could be seen year-round,Needham, J.Astronomy in Ancient and Medieval China. ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London''. Series A, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beta Chamaeleontis
Beta Chamaeleontis, Latinized from β Chamaeleontis, is the third-brightest star in the southern constellation of Chamaeleon. A solitary, suspected variable star, it is visible to the naked eye as a faint blue-white point of light with an apparent visual magnitude that has been measured ranging between 4.24 and 4.30. Parallax measurements yield a distance estimate of 298 light years from the Sun, and it is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +23 km/s. This is a B-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of B4 V that is generating energy through core hydrogen fusion. It has been catalogued both as a Be star and a normal star. This object is about 23 million years old with a high projected rotational velocity of 255 km/s. The rapid rotation is creating an equatorial bulge that is 12% larger than the polar radius. The star has five times the mass of the Sun and 2.8 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 212 times ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
