A third magnitudeorangestar in the southern parts of Canis Major, Unurgunite lies between the brighterstarsWezen and Adhara, somewhat southward of brilliant Sirius in the sky. Its name Unurgunite is one of several adopted from the aboriginal peoples of Australia: in the traditions of the Boorong people, Unurgunite (or Nganurganity) is a lizard spirit who challenges the Moon, with the brighterstars on either side representing his two wives.
Though the faintest of the three stars in the skies of Earth, Unurgunite is in fact an intensely luminoussupergiant, though its brightness is attenuated by its great distance from the Solar System: more than 1,100 light years. This is an ancient star in the last stages of its evolution. Having consumed its reserves of hydrogen, the outer shells of the star have expanded immensely, reaching a distance of nearly 2 AU from the helium-burning remnant of its core. If Unurgunite lay at the centre of the Solar System, its outer shell would extend beyond the orbit of Mars.