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Dark nebula

The Chamaeleon Clouds

Also Chamaeleon complex

Open in Ouranos

A group of dark clouds in the far southern sky that are forming young stars and brown dwarfs.

Measured

Distance
about 620 light-years (published estimates 525–685)
Constellation
Chamaeleon
Position (J2000)
RA 12h 58m 00s, Dec −77.10°

How far, from the Sun

About 620 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light620 years
  • Voyager 1's speed11 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h6.69 billion years

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

  • It is one of the nearest star-forming regions to the Sun.
  • Its distance comes from where stars behind it start to look dimmed and reddened by its dust, measured with Gaia.

Where this comes from

  • Zucker et al. 2020, A&A 633, A51 (190 pc on the sightline used; their sightlines across the cloud span 161–210 pc)
  • This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, CDS, Strasbourg, France (Wenger et al. 2000, A&AS 143, 9).
  • This research has made use of the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg, France (DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier).

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.