Muning

A Beardie (Lotella rhacina). Blue Fish Point, Sydney, NSW (CC BY Richard Ling).

Muning is a name for two stars (γ and β Ser) in Serpens from the Australian Wardaman people.

Etymology and History

"Muning" is the Wardaman name, meaning "the Small Rock Cod" (Cairns & Harney, 2003, p. 200)

Cairns & Harney (2003, p.110):

"The other two stars seen in Serpens Caput are Muning, the Small Rock Cod, also to do with rebirth - and the Wulanggman Mungamunga Spiritual Women themselves. These important Spirituals and their places in the night Sky are said to abound in the rock ant sites in Wardaman lands below, and the meeting places which make Corona Borealis outstanding in the night sky are also presented in the cultural landscape down below. The practical way that Bill Yidumduma Harney has the observation of animals meeting linked with the geography of his land and the ancestral Dreaming Creation is clear with the ancestral stories about and importance of this Northern Crown."

IAU Working Group on Star Names

The name was discussed by IAU WGSN in 2018, however no action was taken in adopting it for a given star. WGSN may revisit the name in a future meeting.

Gamma Serpentis (γ Ser) does not have a proper name in SIMBAD, the Bright Star Catalog (4th, 5th editions), the wikipedia or Kunitzsch & Smart (2006). see also http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/gammaser.html

Reference

• References (general)
• References (early modern)