THE IAU WORKING GROUP ON STAR NAMES (WGSN): RESEARCH FINDS IN 2025

The IAU-Working Group on Star Names consists of scholars with a huge diversity of cultural backgrounds. In our monthly discussions of cultural names from different places and times, this year we came across some interesting facts in intercultural comparisons. In particular, the constellation of Andromeda was depicted as the Syriac goddess Derketo in early al-Sūfī manuscripts, the ՙHorse՚-constellations of the Arabic, Babylonian, Greek and Indian culture are in the same area of the sky (around modern Pegasus) which invites studying possible cultural transfer. Another interesting coincidence is that the Greek asterism of the ՙManger՚ is at the same place as the Vedic ՙNourisher՚. Furthermore, we found that one of the so-called ancient Greek globes (from Galérie Kugel in Paris) is actually Indian with Chinese and Persian influences, so likely dates to the so-called ՙGreek period՚ in Indian art and astronomy. Technically, we announce the long-term venture of the ՙAll Skies Encyclopaedia՚ (ASE) and our ՙNaked Eye Star Catalog՚ (NEC) which might be useful for all sorts of historical studies.