Would you be embarrassed to spend $39.95 and usually more for your loved one, only to have them snicker at how you had be taken in by the scam. That's what you'll have to admit to if you don't understand the truth behind all the companies who want to sell you a star name (or land on the moon/mars).
| What they might try to sell you on: | | • | That the star name you pick will be 'officially' registered (anyone can register/copyright a book of listed names with the Library of Congress for a tiny fee) | | • | That the star name is good for eternity (ask them for just ten thousand years, it should cost less!) | | • | A 'couple' pair of stars for you and your loved one (why stop with just one, give them more money for two! What next, family groups?) | | • | The star they will sell you is likely very, very faint, requires binoculars/telescope to find and is most likely not findable. |
| The Truth: | | • | Star names (and most other astronomical objects) are named by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a group of scientists | | • | Only a handful of significant objects get named, and only at periodic intervals | | • | Names are submitted though a nomination process from the scientific community | | • | Not many more stars will be named. Faint stars have and are given numerical/catalog index designations | | • | The IAU does not collect a payment for the name | | • | There is no auditing control on companies who collect your money for naming a star. Who can say that another company may have already named the same star some other name or perhaps is selling the same star or non-existing star to its customers? (Somewhat similar to finding out that someone else is buried in the cemetery plot you just bought). |
See naming stars for the IAU's article.
See Heaven's View, A Personal Map of the Sky for information on a gift that truly represents the beauty of the stars at a given moment.
 
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