The Colorful Cosmos

The Chamaeleon – IC 2631

The Chamaeleon nebula complex is a large star forming region (SFR) that includes the Chamaeleon I, Chamaeleon II, and Chamaeleon III dark clouds. It occupies nearly all of the constellation of Chamaeleon nebula and overlaps into Apus, Musca, Carina and Octans.
Chamaeleon 1 is one of the nearest active star formation regions and is around 700 light years away.
Chamaeleon 2 contains over 40 X-ray sources while Chamaeleon 3 appears to have no star formation taking place.
Within the image on the left is the reflection nebula IC 2631 and in the center is Cederblad 111.

©Mark Hanson-Mike Selby