Four stars in our night sky have been formally recognised by their traditional Australian Aboriginal names, in a step by the International Astro nomical Union to recognise traditional language and indigenous starlore.

Normally, stars are named after the Bayer system, using a Greek letter and the Latin name for the constellation in which it is found.

Among the renamed stars is Ginan, the smallest star of the Southern Cross, as named by the Warda man people of northern Australia.

Ginan is among 86 newly recognised star names drawn from cultures all over the world, including Hindu, Mayan and South African languages.