This topic seems to pop up here every few years. I've had a personal experience with it that was rather sad. My ex-wife's nephew was killed in an auto-pedestrian accident many years ago, and some of his relatives "named" a star after him with the original company that offered this service. His parents asked me to show them the star in a telescope, which I did, gladly, but were somewhat saddened to learn that it wasn't an official designation. That's the problem with these companies, they mislead the public into thinking that the names they purchase are used by astronomers worldwide and are "official". On Mon, May 12, 2014 at 9:14 PM, Wiggins Patrick <paw@getbeehive.net> wrote:
From the IAU:
http://www.iau.org/public/themes/buying_star_names
patrick
p.s. For $100 I will name any star for you that you like. :)
On 12 May 2014, at 21:07, CenturyLink Customer <jcarman6@q.com> wrote:
The only organization with legal authority to name a star is the International Astronomical Union. If the company is connected to the IAU than go for it - otherwise - scam alert.
----- Original Message ----- From: "BWFlowers" <BWFlowers@comcast.net> To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Cc: "Dirk R." <drtanuki@yahoo.com> Sent: Monday, May 12, 2014 12:22:07 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Name a STAR?
Here's some interesting info for you about NEO's and towards the bottom of the page is a link to be able to officially name a star! Looked interesting to me. :)
http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.jp/2014/05/neos-close-approach-to-eart
h-may-2014.html
Name a Star from $19.95 nameastarlive.com Certificate, Chart, Astronomy CD & more-a great gift. Free Shipping
-Barrett www.BarrettsCustomLeather.com
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