The binary nature of this system was first observed during February 1836 when Sir John Herschel found it as the close double star, HJ 4486AB.[12] In 2016, it was discovered that Epsilon Chamaeleontis A it a binary system itself, with components designated Aa and Ab, thus making the system triple.[13] The inner (Aa-Ab) system has an orbital period of 6.43 years and a high eccentricity of 0.643, while the outer (A-B) system has an orbital period of 751 years and a circular orbit.[8]
The system is a member of the of Scorpius-Centaurus Association or the smaller portion known as the Lower Centaurus Crux subgroup. The system forms the nucleus of the very young Epsilon Chamaeleontis stellar group, which comprises at least 36 stars.[9] The nebulosity and star formation occurring in this region is currently a very important line of study in the southern hemisphere, whose proximity to the Sun is yielding new astrophysical information. Several papers have been published in the last few years on Lower Centaurus Crux subgroup of stars in the far southern constellations of Musca, Chamaeleon and Octans holding the south celestial pole.[14]
↑Houk, N.; Cowley, A. P. (1975). University of Michigan Catalogue of two-dimensional spectral types for the HD stars. Volume I. Declinations −90° to −53°. Bibcode:1975mcts.book.....H.
12Johnson, H. L.; Mitchell, R. I.; Iriarte, B.; Wisniewski, W. Z. (1966). "UBVRIJKL Photometry of the Bright Stars". Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. 4: 99–110. Bibcode:1966CoLPL...4...99J.
↑Gould, Benjamin Apthorp (1878). "Uranometria Argentina: brillantez y posicion de las estrellas fijas, hasta la septima magnitud, comprendidas dentro de cien grados del polo austral: con atlas". Resultados del Observatorio Nacional Argentino. 1. Bibcode:1879RNAO....1.....G.
↑Herschel, J. F. W. (1836). "Sixth Catalogue of Double Stars, observed at Slough, in the years 1831 and 1832, with the 20-fet Reflector; containing the Places, Descriptions, and Measured Angles of Position of 286 of those Objects, of which 105 have not been previously described. Reduced to the Epoch 1830·0". Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. 9: 193. Bibcode:1836MmRAS...9..193H.
