Chamaeleon II molecular cloud viewed by Herschel and Planck

This image shows the Chamaeleon II molecular cloud based on a combination of data from ESA’s Herschel and Planck space telescopes. The bright areas in the picture shows the emission by interstellar dust grains in three different wavelengths observed by Herschel (250, 350, and 500 microns) and the lines crossing the image in a ‘drapery pattern’ represent the magnetic field orientation (based on the Planck data.)

The Chamaeleon cloud complex consists of three molecular clouds of very different morphology and stages of evolution: Chamaeleon I, II and III, with Chamaleon III having no young stars.

Chamaeleon II, despite its name, would not be able to camouflage in with Chamaeleon I even though they have similar sizes and masses. The region is still actively forming stars and and has a smaller stellar population of around 60. It doesn’t have defined ridge like in Chamaeleon I, and is dominated by clumps.