Universe Today

Naming a Star

To understand how these services work, imagine an analogy. Imagine I created a company that offers city naming. You pay me a fee and I'll let you name a city on Earth anything you like. You could name the biggest city in England "Sillytown" if you like. I can accept your money, I can send you a certificate that says this city is now called Sillytown, and even a key to the city. But the people living in London probably won't change their addresses to Sillytown.

That's how it works for the names of astronomical objects. The names of objects in space are governed by the International Astronomical Union; a group of astronomers that meet every couple of years. They vote and agree on issues that face the international astronomical community, such as large research projects and the names of astronomical objects. In a recent meeting, they decided that Pluto was no longer a planet, and they agreed on the name Eris for the newly discovered dwarf planet that's larger than Pluto.

In fact, stars aren't given names. They have numerical designations, and there are the ancient historical names of bright stars that were known to astronomers for thousands of years, but no new stars are given names. NASA and the International Astronomical Union refuse to recognize any of the names being sold by the star naming companies.

And so, if you wish to name a star after someone, go ahead, you'll get a nice certificate and map to your star. But nobody else will refer to your star by this name, and it will be forgotten as soon as the company that sold it to you stops keeping their records.

If you'd like to read the official position on this matter from the International Astronomical Union, check out this article.

And you can also learn more about stars from our articles on Universe Today. Here's an article with interesting facts about stars. And here's an article about nuclear fusion in stars.

We have also recorded many episodes of Astronomy Cast about stars. Check out Episode 107: Nucleosynthesis: Elements from Stars.

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SName Your Own Star

You've got to understand that the names of astronomical objects are designated by the International Astronomical Union. This is the group that represents astronomers in every country in the world. They meet every few years and vote on the big issues that astronomers face. They might decide on how to allocate funding for big research projects, or maybe they agree on definitions. One example of a recent decision by the IAU was the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet. It was an unpopular decision, but astronomers have committed to the new designation.

These star naming companies are just downloading a big database with millions of individual stars. These stars have locations and additional information, but they're only referenced by astronomers through their number. The star naming companies then sell the rights to name these stars. But you can see that two different companies could sell the same star to two different people.

And it all wouldn't matter because astronomers would never recognize the names given by these star naming companies. You might have a nice certificate and information about how to find "your star", but no other group in the world will use or recognize the name. It would be like me selling you the right to rename the city of London to whatever you like. You might come up with a nice name, but the people in London will still use the old name.

Check out this official article from the International Astronomical Union on their stance on the business of selling star names.

We have written many articles about stars for Universe Today. Here's an article about the magnetic fields of young stars, and here's an article about how many stars there are.

And if you'd like to listen about stars, check out this episode of Astronomy Cast. Episode 12: Where do Baby Stars Come From?

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How to Name a Star After Someone

Astronomers are constantly scanning the skies and building up huge databases of stars, galaxies and clusters of stars. These database contain information about each star, as well as their brightness and location in the sky. The databases are made freely available to the public, so that anyone who wants can download them, search for stars, and maybe do astronomical research of their own.

These star naming companies download these same databases, containing millions of star positions, and then sell the rights to the names. The problem is that they don't have the legitimate right to do this in the first place. You could imagine a situation where two different companies download the database and then sell the same star name to two different people. Who has officially named the star? Well, nobody, since the names recorded by the companies aren't officially recognized by the astronomy community.

The names of astronomical objects are agreed upon by the International Astronomical Union. It was this group who demoted Pluto from being a planet, and named the new dwarf planet Eris. And the IAU has officially stated that they don't consider these star naming companies to be legitimate. It would be the same as someone starting up a city naming company. You might be able to rename Paris, but the people living there aren't going to start using the new name you've given them.

Unfortunately, there is no official way to name a star after someone.

If you want more information on the IAU's position on star naming companies, check out their article on the subject.

And you can read more articles about star naming from Universe Today. Check out this one, Name a Star.

If you'd like some real science information on stars, check out this episode of Astronomy Cast, Stellar Populations.

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Sirius. Image credit: Hubble

Astronomers around the world are members of the International Astronomical Union. It's this group that designates the name of objects in space, and they meet up every couple of years to decide on important matters for astronomers. For example, they might decide on new astronomy surveys that will search for extrasolar planets, or they will designate the names of new craters identified on the Mars. In one meeting Pluto lost its planethood status. Ouch.

That's the only place that these kinds of decisions get made, through a vote by all the astronomers. These star naming agencies aren't part of the IAU, and the names they sell aren't recognized by the Union.

Astronomers are constantly cataloging stars, and they have found millions of them. These stars are kept in huge databases which are freely available for the public to download and use to search for stars on their own. The star naming agencies have downloaded these catalogs and are just selling the names of these stars. In fact, two different star naming companies could download the same database and sell the same star to two different people. And no matter what, nobody outside the star naming company is going to recognize the name.

If you'd like more information on the official stance of the International Astronomical Union, they've got a pretty funny article that answers all your questions.

And we have written many articles on the subject here at Universe Today. Here's a good article about it, Name a Star.

Want some real information on stars? Check out this episode of Astronomy Cast, Where Do Stars Go When they Die?

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How to Buy a Star

The name of astronomical objects is designated by the International Astronomical Union. They meet every few years and agree on big issues in astronomy. For example, they're the ones who demoted Pluto from planet status down to a dwarf planet. And it was at that same meeting that the dwarf planet Eris was named. But the IAU doesn't give names to stars. There are just too many.

There are approximately 250 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, of which, millions have been identified. The coordinates and additional information about these stars is maintained in large database by astronomers and freely available to the public for download.

The star naming agencies download these databases, and then sell off the naming rights to the stars in the database. But keep in mind that the names the sell aren't officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union or any group of astronomers. And two different star naming agencies could let the same star be named by two different people. That's because nothing is official in what they do.

Just to give you an analogy, imagine I set up a city naming agency. For a fee, I'll let you give any city on Earth whatever name you like. You could rename Tokyo after your grandmother, but the people who live in Tokyo probably wouldn't accept the new name. And that's how it works with star naming agencies.

If you'd like more information, right from the International Astronomical Union, they have an article on their site called Buying Star Names.

We have also written article about this topic for Universe Today. Here's an article that looks into whether you can really Name a Star.

Want some real information on stars? Check out an episode of Astronomy Cast all about where baby stars come from.

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Buying Star

No.

There are about 250 billion stars in the Milky Way, millions of which have been found and identified by astronomers. They don't give names to stars, but give them numbers which allow the stars to be quickly looked up and then located in the sky. The only names for stars are the ancient ones, which have remained through history. Think of names like Rigel, Sirius, and Betelgeuse.

The names of astronomical objects are designated by the International Astronomical Union. They meet every few years and agree on the names of objects, such as the newly discovered dwarf planet Eris. But they don't name stars, just new planets, moons, and features on planets and moons like craters.

The various star naming agencies have just downloaded the big star database catalogs and are selling the naming rights for each star in the catalog. It's entirely possible for two different agencies to sell the same object to two different people. And whatever the case, nobody in the astronomy community is going to recognize the name as official and refer to it.

So if you pay money to one of these agencies, you're really just doing it for the entertainment purposes. You'll get a star chart and an official looking certificate. But nobody will consider the name to be official.

If you're interested, here's a more detailed article from the International Astronomical Union about their position on people buying star names.

We have also written many articles on this topic for Universe Today. Here's an article called Name a Star – Real or Ripoff.

We have also recorded many episodes of Astronomy Cast about stars. Here's a good one, Episode 109: The Life of Other Stars.

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Buying a Star

No, sorry.

Here's the problem. The name of astronomical objects is chosen by the International Astronomical Union. They meet every few years and agree of various issues in astronomy. For example, the IAU recently decided that Pluto was no longer a planet. But it was also at that meeting that the new dwarf planet Eris was given its official designation. Planets and moons are given mythological names, and these names are agreed upon by the IAU.

Stars, on the other hand, are not given names. Some of the brightest stars retain the names they were given by ancient astronomers: Rigel, Vega, Sirius, etc. But the other 250 billion or so stars in the Milky Way just have number designations and coordinates.

These star naming agencies download the catalog of star locations and then sell the naming rights to each of these stars. But all they're really doing is changing their own internal documents. No other astronomy organization will recognize these star names and use them.

Just to give you an analogy, imagine if I offered a town naming service. I'll maintain a database of every town and city on Earth, and for a fee I'll assign whatever name you like to a city. You can rename New York after your grandma. But you can understand that the people living in New York aren't going to be using the new name.

These services say they're for entertainment purposes only. If you're not concerned about how legitimate the star name is, then you can part with your money, but think about what I've talked about here first.

Here's an FAQ from the International Astronomical Union about their opinion on buying a star.

We have written many articles about this for Universe Today as well. Here's an article called Name a Star – Real or Ripoff.

We have also recorded many episodes of Astronomy Cast about stars. Here's a good one, Episode 22: Variable Stars.

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Buying Stars

Here's what the International Astronomical Union has to say on this:

The IAU receives an increasing number of requests from individuals who want to buy stars or star names, or name stars after other persons. The IAU is aware that some commercial enterprises purport to offer such services for a fee. The fact is that such "names" have no formal or official validity whatever; a few bright stars have ancient, traditional Arabic names, but otherwise stars have just numbers and positions on the sky.

In other words, if you buy a star from one of these star naming companies, no official astronomical agency will recognize the star name. That might be fine with you, if you're just looking for the entertainment of it, but if you're actually concerned about whether this name will be remembered by future generations, you should probably consider a different gift.

Stars are all just given number designations. There are a few historical names that have remained from when they were first given by Arabic astronomers hundreds of years ago: Rigel, Algol, etc. But the rest of the 250 billion stars in the Milky Way, they just get numbers.

If you want more information, here's a great article from the International Astronomical Union about their position on the business of buying stars.

We have also written many articles on the topic for Universe Today. Here's a good one, Name a Star – Real or Ripoff.

We have also recorded several episodes of Astronomy Cast about the topic of stars. Here's a good one, Episode 75: Stellar Populations.

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Buy Star

Unfortunately, the various star naming companies don't have the authority to give astronomical objects names. They have downloaded a catalog of stars from NASA or the European Space Agency, and are then selling each one of these stars to people. It would be the same as someone downloading a list of mountains in the United States, and then offering to name these mountains after people. You might have paid $100 to rename Mount Rainier to "Mount John Smith", but nobody is going to recognize the name.

Is it still worth it to you if nobody other than the star naming company will actually recognize the name?

The names of astronomical objects are decided on by the International Astronomical Union. They meet every few years and vote on the names for new objects. When astronomers discover a new object, like when Mike Brown discovered the dwarf planet Eris, they submit their suggested name to the IAU for approval. After a vote, the new name is accepted by the astronomical community.

If you still feel that it's worth the fee and that you understand that it's not official, then there might be some educational value for learning about a star. But instead of buying a star, why don't you "Adopt a Star" instead. You can make a donation, and the money goes to a scientific mission to search for Earthlike planets orbiting other stars.

We have written many articles about star naming services on Universe Today. Here's an article called, Name a Star – Real or Ripoff.

We have also recorded many episodes of Astronomy Cast about stars. Here's a good one, Episode 12: Where Do Baby Stars Come From?

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Buy and Name a Star

No.

Here's the problem. There's only one organization in the world that decides on "official" names for astronomical objects: the International Astronomical Union. They meet every few years and vote on new names for objects. That's where Pluto stopped being a planet, and the newly discovered Eris got its name.

The names that you're buying through these star naming companies aren't recognized by the IAU. It would be like me selling the rights to name a city. Even though you've paid me $20 for the right to rename New York to "Happytown", the people living there aren't going to be using the new name.

You might get a certificate, and that might actually have the coordinates to a real star in the sky that you can find with a telescope, but only the star naming company is going to recognize the name. Two different companies might be selling the same star off to two different people since they have no agreements between them. See the problem?

There's one organization that lets you "Adopt a Star" for a donation, and that money is used by a real scientific mission to search for Earthlike worlds orbiting other stars. That's pretty cool.

We have written a few articles about these star naming companies. Check out this article: Name a Star, Real or Ripoff.

We have also done many episodes of Astronomy Cast about stars. Here's one, Episode 12: Where Do Baby Stars Come From?

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The Arches Cluster, with young, massive stars, taken by the NACO on ESO’s Very Large Telescope.

Let me give you an example. Imagine I ran a company called "Name a Town". For a fee of $20, I would let you pick any one of the thousands of towns and cities on Earth and give it whatever name you like. I'll record that name in my big book of names, and send you a world map with the location of the town that you named with your new name. Unfortunately, the citizens of that town aren't going to change the name of the town to the name you just gave them.

That's how it works for stars. The names of astronomical objects are given by the International Astronomical Union. Every two years they meet and agree on the new names for objects, like stars and newly discovered planets. It was at a meeting in 2006 where the IAU decided that Pluto wasn't a planet any more.

If you do decide that you want to "buy a star", there are a couple of services out there that you can use. One example is this service, called Adopt a Star. You're really donating money, and the proceeds will be used to help search for extrasolar planets. Another service lets you name a star for free. Once again, it's not an official name, but they'll give you a nice certificate showing you the location of the star.

We have written a more extensive article on the subject. Check out this article, Name a Star, Real or Ripoff.

There's another good article over at Wired Magazine that explains why you can't really buy a star.

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Adopt a Star

Just to be clear, though, the official names of stars are designated by the International Astronomical Union. They meet every two years and decide on names for objects like planets and stars. For example, at a famous meeting in Prague in 1996, the IAU decided that Pluto is no longer designated as a planet.

Here's one free service that lets you name a star for free. They'll keep the name, and give you a document you can print off that records the star name and lets you locate it in the night sky.

Another service isn't free, but the proceeds go to helping astronomers search for extrasolar planets. So this is for a good cause.

But if any company offers to sell you the rights to name a star, you've got to understand that they're selling something that they don't have a legitimate right to sell. It would be the same as someone offering to sell you the right to name a town. The people living in that town might not agree with the new name you've given them.

We've written more on this subject with an article called, Name a Star, Real or Ripoff?

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Adopt a Star

The short answer is no.

The name of astronomical objects is managed by the International Astronomical Union. Names for moons, asteroids and other deep space objects are proposed at the IAU meetings and voted on. Even an astronomer who discovers a new object can only propose a name to the IAU; there's no guarantee they'll select it.

These companies that offer to sell stars are not actually allowed to name stars by the scientific community. Instead, what they're doing is accessing star catalogs created by astronomers, and then putting all of these stars into a database. If you "adopt a star" from one of these companies, all they're doing is updating their database with the name you've selected, and printing off a nice certificate. The name isn't given that official name.

Some of the more honorable companies will classify a real object, so you can take your coordinates and try to find the star for yourself, but others aren't so good. It's buyer beware.

Imagine there was a service that allowed you to "adopt a country". If you want, you can rename a country after yourself. You might start calling it by its new name, but the residents of that country aren't going to be changing their name.

The only benefit adopt a star services give is they help increase interest in space and astronomy. It helps people stop for a moment and consider the Universe around them, and maybe even seek out a telescope or observatory to learn more about astronomy. That's a good thing.

We have written articles about services like this in the past for Universe Today. Here's an article, Name a Star, Real or Rip Off, and no, you can't buy land on the Moon either.

One service that we do endorse is the Adopt a Star service from Pale Blue Dot. They donate all of the money to support scientific research.

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One of my many hats is as the president of a public observatory, helping people discover the wonders of the night sky. On many occasions people have come into the observatory with a certificate and locater chart to help them find the star they named. Since the fourth century BC, mankind has been looking up at the heavens and assigning names to the stars. Nearly 2400 years later, we're still doing the same thing. Is the process recognized by the science community? Can you really name a star after someone?
Read more…

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