Posted By:
Lord Lucan
in somewhere strange Jan 18, 2005
Starlistings will allow you to name a star - you need to pay them of course.
What do you get for your money (£25 or more) - well, not a lot - a certificate and "Your chosen star name is recorded and copy-righted in our star name directory, which will be deposited at the British Library." I presume they mean 'copyrighted' - so: you own the right to call the star what you want and nobody else can call their star by the same name - wow! that's worth having! (Incidentally, while you can own the copyright of a literary work, you can't claim copyright of a name even if it's 'yours'. Others have the right to be called by the same name if they - or their parents - choose).
How bright are these stars (don't want one you can't see, do you)? I asked Starlistings how bright the brightest one they were offering was - they couldn't tell me.
There's bags of scope for the budding entrepreneur here; when they run out of stars there's trees, bricks, forks and spoons all which could be named after your favourite person!
Comments Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA Member
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 | 08:15 AM
They have something like this in the U.S also. I always wondered if they just used the same star for everyone. Or if they even used a real star. Once my mom joined the "Bat Club", for people with bat houses. She also decided to adopt-a-bat. They sent her a picture & stats...very cute. The next month, HER very own bat's picture was on the cover of the bat magazine. Then, he appeared on a postage stamp. Also, whenever they were discussing a particular bat, they would illustrate. Do you know whose bat was used to illustrate whenever they talked about the same species she had adopted? HER bat picture. We tease her about it now, because she seemed so excited to adopt that little bat. We decided they didn't actually send her a picture of her adopted bat (if in fact there was ever an adoption), they actually sent a file-photo. I simply assume this is the case with all 'adoptions', or namings of things.
Hairy Houdini Member
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 | 08:47 AM
The firm that offers the "Name A Star After Someone You Love" in the US claims the name will be "Recorded in book form in the US Library of Congress". That's not the same as a copyright. No scientific body is required to recognize that name for the star. It's not really a hoax, more like a RIPOFF
Stardate 12.37.0007: the Enterprise is orbiting Hairy Houdini, fourth planet of the Alex Boese system...
Tsk, if only...
"Q: Who is legally responsible for naming objects in the sky?
A: The IAU is the internationally recognized authority for naming celestial bodies and surface features on them. And names are not sold, but assigned according to internationally accepted rules."
That's my point. The IAU is not bound to recognize any of the Star Names assigned by Pay-per-You Star Registries (except "Hairy Houdini", which IS the scientific name for the planet that orbits the sun, opposite of Earth, unseen, undetected, waiting for the day when... nevermind. You didn't hear it from me).
Val
in Canada
Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 | 09:05 AM
My boyfriend bought me a star for my birthday from http://www.myrealstar.com and it is the same thing. I don’t think that the registry is real but it was a perfect gift for me because it drag attention to everyone that walked in to my house asking what is this certificate for... blah blah blah ...and when you first tell to people that don’t know they are shocked and think that it is something special… but really its just a nice looking certificate to fill your room … nothing else
My boyfriend said instead gift card from wallmart I bought you a star certificate because its bigger, nice looking and its in frame to put it on your wall
