Geminga
Geminga is a modern star name adopted by the International Astronomical Union in the IAU-Catalog of Star Names (IAU-CSN). Its origin is Contemporary. It is the name of HIPIntegerPart[] (, PSR B0633+17) in constellation Gem. Astrophysically important nearby pulsar – 1127 references. NASA ADS lists 844 publications with “Geminga” in abstract. Name listed in Lortet & Spite (1986) IAU dictionary of names.
Etymology and History
Geminga is an artificially invented term for the gamma-ray and X-ray pulsar discovered and named by Giovanni Bignani+ 1983, see footnote below. Bignami (1944-2017) was Italian physicist, later chairman of Italian Space Agency (2007-2008)
The authors explain the pun: "This source is in the constellation of Gemini and it is a gamma-ray source. Pronounced with both G's as in "get", the word means "does not exist" or "it's not there" in Milanese dialect.
Geminga profile card (CC BY Sadegh Faghanpour for IAU WGSN).
Geminga stickfigure (CC BY Sadegh Faghanpour for IAU WGSN).
Mythology
no mythology
IAU Star Name
Name already in CDS-SIMBAD, and in the Wikipedia
The name was adopted by the IAU WGSN on 2022/04/04.
- Website of the IAU WGSN: https://exopla.net/
Reference
- References (general)
- Bignami, G. F. ; Caraveo, P. A. ; Lamb, R. C. (1983). An identification for "GEMINGA" (2CG 195+04) 1E 0630+178 : a unique object in the error box of the high-energy gamma-ray source. Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 272, p. L9-L13
