The Caldwell Objects

109
1 0 9
NGC 3195
Type: Planetary Nebula
Con: Chamaeleon
RA: 10 h 09 m 21 s
Dec: -80° 51' 31"
Mag: 11.6
Diam: 38"
Dist: 5,400 light-years
Disc: John Herschel, 1835
J. HERSCHEL: [Observed
24 February 1835]
Planetary nebula, pretty
bright, not quite uniform
in its light, having two
brighter patches, slightly
elongated towards a star A;
slightly hazy; diameter =
15 or 18 arcsec (in RA 13
seconds of time). Position
angle] of star A = 265.7 [°],
distance] = 0.7 diam[eter]
from edge, 11th
magnitude]; star C position angle] = 210.7[°],
distance] = 1.75 diam[eters] from edge (NB 13 sec-
onds in time = 33.75 arcsec in arc).
THE LAST CALDWELL OBJECT, NGC 3195, is the
southernmost planetary nebula known and one
of the most beautiful in the southern skies — at
least in photographs. It resides in Chamaeleon, a
"small and unimportant constellation" (so says
Richard Hinckley Allen) south of Carina.
Chamaeleon is separated from the South Celestial
Pole by Octans. In 1603 the Bavarian lawyer and
astronomy aficionado Johann Bayer introduced
Chamaeleon, along with 11 other southcircumpolar
constellations, in his Uranometria
atlas. The constellation's pattern is based on 16thcentury
observations
426
G C / Ν G C: Remarkable, planetary nebula, pretty
bright, small, little extended, 13" diameter, 3 small
stars nearby.
from the Dutch mariner Pieter Dirckszoon
Keyser, who, like other explorers sailing south of
the equator, visually decorated the night sky with
the tools of his trade as well as with the birds and
animals discovered during the Age of
Exploration. Famous for its ability to camouflage
itself, the chameleon befits this dim and elusive
region, because its eponymous constellation
clings to the skirt of the southern Milky Way
virtually unnoticed.
Once found, Chamaeleon offers a dash of
visual solace to those who explore the night sky's
otherwise bland south-polar region. Its
Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects