Simple facts
What it is: Chamaeleon I Star Forming Cloud
Where it is: 522 light years away, constellations Chamaleon, Aps, Masca, Carina, Octane
When shared: June 10, 2025
Stars form in dark molecular clouds of gas and dust called nebulae, but it is rare to capture these stellar nursery clearly. A dramatic new image from the Chilean dark energy camera (decam) reveals the Chameleon I dark cloud (the closest location to the solar system) with unprecedented details.
The dark patches exposed in the new image give Chamaeleon an ominous look, but within the thick veil of interstellar dust there is a pocket of light created by the newly formed stars. Chamaeleon I was about 2 billion years ago and has around 200-300 stars.
Today, young stars emerging from swirling gas-like plumes illuminate three nebulae. Cederblad110 (top of image), C-shaped Cederblad 111 (center), orange Chamai Leon infrared (bottom). In astronomy, the word “nebula” is used to describe a variety of objects. Initially it was used to describe the vagueness of the sky, not stars or planets. It also refers to the planet nebula, the shell of gas that has been driven out of a dying star.
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However, these three are reflective nebulae, which shine brightly just because they are illuminated by starlight. According to NASA, it is in contrast to the famous Orion Nebula.
Chamaeleon I is just part of the vast Chamaeleon Cloud Complex. Imaged in 2022 by Hubble Space Telescope. Chamaeleon I was previously imaged multiple times in 2023 by James Webb Space Telescope.
What sets this new image apart is its spectacular details. Mounted on the National Science Foundation’s Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, DECam’s 570-megapixel sensor reveals an intriguing faint red path of nebulosity between Cederblad 110 and Cederblad 111. Formed when streams of gas ejected by young stars collided with slow-moving clouds of gas, they’re known as Embedded in Herbig Halo Objects and Chamaleon I.
For sublime space images, see Space Photos in this week’s archives.
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