Constellation · Southern sky · Winter

Caelum, the Engraver's Chisel

SEE-lum · genitive Caeli · Cae

The eighth-smallest constellation, a few faint stars between Columba and Eridanus, named for an engraver's chisel. Caelum lies far from the Milky Way and holds faint galaxies.

0h 6h 12h 18h
Where Caelum sits on the whole sky. Gold line: the ecliptic.
Caelum star chart with deep-sky objects COLUMBA LEPUS NGC 1679 | Galaxy | mag 11.6 NGC 1679 NE

Swipe sideways to pan the chart.

Stars to magnitude 8, IAU boundary and stick figure, J2000. Click any object to open its page; click a neighboring constellation's name to go there. Nebula Open cluster Galaxy Planetary nebula Dark nebula Double star
Area
125 sq°rank 81 of 88
Best month
Januaryat 9 pm
Visible from
40°N to 90°S
Brightest star
α Cae (mag 4.44)
Messier
0none
Caldwell
0none
Cataloged objects
88in 6 catalogs

Faint stars between Columba and Eridanus

Caelum's brightest star, α Cae, is magnitude 4.4. Look between Phact in Columba and the bend of Eridanus, south of Lepus.

Evening sky from December to February

Caelum is highest at 9 pm in January. From 30°N it stands about 20° above the southern horizon.

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 60°N JAN at 60°N: -8° high at 9 pm FEB at 60°N: -11° high at 9 pm MAR at 60°N: -19° high at 9 pm APR at 60°N: -31° high at 9 pm MAY at 60°N: -46° high at 9 pm JUN at 60°N: -60° high at 9 pm JUL at 60°N: -68° high at 9 pm AUG at 60°N: -62° high at 9 pm SEP at 60°N: -48° high at 9 pm OCT at 60°N: -33° high at 9 pm NOV at 60°N: -20° high at 9 pm DEC at 60°N: -12° high at 9 pm 50°N JAN at 50°N: 2° high at 9 pm FEB at 50°N: -2° high at 9 pm MAR at 50°N: -11° high at 9 pm APR at 50°N: -27° high at 9 pm MAY at 50°N: -45° high at 9 pm JUN at 50°N: -64° high at 9 pm JUL at 50°N: -78° high at 9 pm AUG at 50°N: -67° high at 9 pm SEP at 50°N: -48° high at 9 pm OCT at 50°N: -29° high at 9 pm NOV at 50°N: -13° high at 9 pm DEC at 50°N: -3° high at 9 pm 40°N JAN at 40°N: 12° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°N: 7° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°N: -4° high at 9 pm APR at 40°N: -22° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°N: -42° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°N: -65° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°N: -87° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°N: -68° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°N: -46° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°N: -25° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°N: -6° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°N: 7° high at 9 pm 30°N JAN at 30°N: 22° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°N: 17° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°N: 4° high at 9 pm APR at 30°N: -16° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°N: -38° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°N: -62° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°N: -82° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°N: -66° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°N: -42° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°N: -20° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°N: 1° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°N: 16° high at 9 pm 20°N JAN at 20°N: 32° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°N: 26° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°N: 11° high at 9 pm APR at 20°N: -10° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°N: -33° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°N: -57° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°N: -72° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°N: -60° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°N: -37° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°N: -14° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°N: 8° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°N: 25° high at 9 pm 10°N JAN at 10°N: 42° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°N: 35° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°N: 18° high at 9 pm APR at 10°N: -4° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°N: -27° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°N: -50° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°N: -62° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°N: -52° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°N: -31° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°N: -8° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°N: 15° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°N: 33° high at 9 pm 0° JAN at 0°: 52° high at 9 pm FEB at 0°: 43° high at 9 pm MAR at 0°: 25° high at 9 pm APR at 0°: 2° high at 9 pm MAY at 0°: -21° high at 9 pm JUN at 0°: -42° high at 9 pm JUL at 0°: -52° high at 9 pm AUG at 0°: -44° high at 9 pm SEP at 0°: -24° high at 9 pm OCT at 0°: -2° high at 9 pm NOV at 0°: 22° high at 9 pm DEC at 0°: 42° high at 9 pm 10°S JAN at 10°S: 62° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°S: 51° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°S: 32° high at 9 pm APR at 10°S: 8° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°S: -14° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°S: -33° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°S: -42° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°S: -35° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°S: -17° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°S: 5° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°S: 28° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°S: 50° high at 9 pm 20°S JAN at 20°S: 72° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°S: 59° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°S: 38° high at 9 pm APR at 20°S: 14° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°S: -7° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°S: -24° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°S: -32° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°S: -26° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°S: -10° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°S: 11° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°S: 34° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°S: 57° high at 9 pm 30°S JAN at 30°S: 82° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°S: 64° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°S: 43° high at 9 pm APR at 30°S: 20° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°S: -0° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°S: -15° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°S: -22° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°S: -17° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°S: -3° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°S: 17° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°S: 39° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°S: 62° high at 9 pm 40°S JAN at 40°S: 88° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°S: 67° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°S: 47° high at 9 pm APR at 40°S: 25° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°S: 7° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°S: -6° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°S: -12° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°S: -8° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°S: 5° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°S: 22° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°S: 43° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°S: 65° high at 9 pm below horizon low 20-40° 40-60° overhead-ish
Altitude of the constellation's center at 9 pm local time on the 15th of each month. Computed from its position, for any longitude.

Caelum's targets are faint galaxies

Caelum has no Messier or Caldwell objects.

Best targets
ObjectTypeMagSizeDistanceBest with
NGC 1679NGC 1679Galaxy11.62.6′~50 million lyTelescope
CAELUM

On each object page: a locator like this one shows where NGC 1679 sits in Caelum. The box marks a 2.5° field, about what 10×50 binoculars show.

Turned sideways: α Cae is 66 light-years away, NGC 1679 50 million

α Cae is 66 light-years away, β Cae 94 and γ Cae 185. NGC 1679 is about 50 million light-years away.

Caelum turned sideways: how far away each star and object is STARS YOU CAN SEE MILKY WAY OTHER GALAXIES 10 ly 100 ly 1,000 ly 10,000 ly 100,000 ly 1 million ly 10 million ly 100 million ly EARTH α Cae: 66 lyα Cae66 ly γ1 Cae: 185 lyγ1 Cae185 ly β Cae: 94 lyβ Cae94 ly δ Cae: 682 lyδ Cae682 ly Cae: 612 ly Cae612 ly Cae: 268 ly Cae268 ly Cae: 324 ly Cae324 ly Cae: 406 ly Cae406 ly Cae: 310 ly Cae310 ly ν Cae: 161 lyν Cae161 ly NGC 1679: ~50 million lyNGC 1679~50 million ly
Side view: distance from Earth on a logarithmic scale, each step ten times farther. The vertical position of every star and object is unchanged. Stick-figure lines join only stars with measured distances.

Brightest stars in Caelum

StarDesignationMagDistanceSpectral class
α Caeα Cae4.4467 lyF2IV
γ1 Caeγ1 Cae4.55185 lyK2III
β Caeβ Cae5.0494 lyF3V
δ Caeδ Cae5.07682 lyB2IV-V
Cae Cae5.66612 lyK3III
Cae Cae5.82268 lyA2/A3V
Cae Cae5.92324 lyK2III
Cae Cae6.02406 lyG8III
Cae Cae6.04310 lyK1III
ν Caeν Cae6.06161 lyF1III-IV

Every cataloged object in Caelum

The table above is the short list. Below is everything the major catalogs place inside the IAU boundary of Caelum. Open a catalog to see its brightest members. Each list shows up to 25; longer lists link to the full catalog page.

NGC16
DesignationNameTypeMagDistance
NGC 1679galaxy11.630.6 million ly
NGC 1572galaxy12.4-
NGC 1616galaxy12.6197.7 million ly
NGC 1595galaxy12.7-
NGC 1598galaxy13.3153.5 million ly
NGC 1570galaxy14.0204.6 million ly
NGC 1687galaxy188.8 million ly
NGC 1701galaxy-
NGC 1668galaxy-
NGC 1660galaxy-
NGC 1658galaxy244.4 million ly
NGC 1558galaxy226 million ly
NGC 1585galaxy-
NGC 1571duplicate-
NGC 1567galaxy-
NGC 1759galaxy-
IC7
DesignationNameTypeMagDistance
IC 2068galaxy-
IC 2069other-
IC 2072other-
IC 2076other-
IC 2084other-
IC 2090other-
IC 2106galaxy234.4 million ly
Planetary nebulae2
DesignationNameTypeMagDistance
Fr 2-3likely410 ly
PN G243.0-37.1true-
Arp-Madore galaxies2
DesignationNameTypeMagDistance
AM 448-32011.630.6 million ly
AM 418-450226 million ly
Abell galaxy clusters51
DesignationNameTypeMagDistance
Abell S487S115.2-
Abell 3301715.5740 million ly
Abell S496S115.8-
Abell S497S115.8-
Abell S489S116.0-
Abell S484S116.1-
Abell S476S116.1-
Abell S468S116.7-
Abell S454S116.7-
Abell S491S116.8-
Abell S486S116.9-
Abell S455S117.0-
Abell S508S217.1-
Abell 3297717.1-
Abell 3295717.1-
Abell 3307717.1-
Abell 3296717.1-
Abell 3304717.2-
Abell S483S117.2-
Abell 3285717.2-
Abell 3309717.2-
Abell 3279717.2-
Abell 3310717.2-
Abell 3259717.22,070 million ly
Abell 3247717.21,770 million ly
The 25 brightest of 51 in Caelum
Nearby stars (Gliese)10
DesignationNameTypeMagDistance
Gl 174.1AAlpha Caeli A24.4467 ly
Gl 176.1Beta Caeli25.0494 ly
NN 331727.4958 ly
NN 331927.6084 ly
GJ 203728.1359 ly
NN 329828.7482 ly
GJ 107128.8172 ly
Gl 174.1B212.5067 ly
NN 3286214.1047 ly
GJ 2034214.3669 ly

A quiet patch of sky

  • Faint galaxies. Caelum looks far from the plane of the Milky Way, so its catalogs list only faint galaxies and stars.

Caelum video tour

Caelum Constellation: Best Deep Sky Objects · Watch on YouTube

An engraver's chisel

Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille named it Caela Sculptoris, the engraver's chisels, in the 1750s.

Constellations bordering Caelum

Caelum shares its IAU boundary with 6 constellations.