Due to its small size and location away from the plane of the Milky Way, Caelum is a rather barren constellation, with few objects of interest.

Caelum was incepted as one of fourteen southern constellations in the 18th century by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, a French astronomer and celebrated of the Age of Enlightenment.

[4] It retains its name Burin among French speakers, latinized in his catalogue of 1763 as Caelum Sculptoris (“Engraver's Chisel”).

[6] In Lacaille's original chart, it was shown as a pair of engraver's tools: a standard burin and more specific shape-forming échoppe tied by a ribbon, but came to be ascribed a simple chisel.

[6] Johann Elert Bode stated the name as plural with a singular possessor, Caela Scalptoris – in German (die ) Grabstichel (“the Engraver’s Chisels”) – but this did not stick.

[7][8] Caelum is bordered by Dorado and Pictor to the south, Horologium and Eridanus to the east, Lepus to the north, and Columba to the west.

Caelum shares with (to the north) Taurus, Eridanus and Orion midnight culmination in December (high summer), resulting in this fact.

In winter (such as June) the constellation can be observed sufficiently inset from the horizons during its rising before dawn and/or setting after dusk as it culminates then at around mid-day, well above the sun.

In South Africa, Argentina, their sub-tropical neighbouring areas and some of Australia in high June the key stars may be traced before dawn in the east; near the equator the stars lose night potential in May to June; they ill-compete with the Sun in northern tropics and sub-tropics from late February to mid-September with March being unfavorable as to post-sunset due to the light of the Milky Way.

[15] This star system forms an optical double with the unrelated X Caeli (previously named γ2Caeli), a Delta Scuti variable located 98.33 parsecs (320.7 ly) from Earth.

[17] The only other variable star in Caelum visible to the naked eye is RV Caeli, a pulsating red giant of spectral type M1III,[18] which varies between magnitudes 6.44 and 6.56 .

[25] The other twelve naked-eye stars in Caelum are not referred to by Bode's Bayer designations anymore, including RV Caeli.