The following is a draft article for the Society's Journal
ADVERTISMENT
Are you looking for the perfect present?
Something that will outlast even diamonds?
Why not NAME A STAR?
Whether it is for that special person in your life or as a lasting memorial to a dear one now departed you can name a star for them.
For only a few hundred pounds we will register the name of your choice in the records of Edinburgh's Calton Hill Observatory. This observatory has been a centre for astronomy since the 18th Century and was granted the title of 'The Royal Observatory of His Majesty, King George IV' in 1822.
Just send us the name of the constellation from which you want our astronomers to select a star, together with a cheque for £200, and within days you will receive a certified extract from our records and a Star Chart showing where your star may be seen in the sky. [1]
For our deluxe service, costing only £50 extra, you can pick anywhere in the world and we will send a listing of the rise and set times of your star. [2]
For added security, your choice of name and the details of registration will be recorded with the National Library of Scotland and with the British Library. Please ask for details of our special arrangements to include registration with the US Library of Congress. [3]
So what are you waiting for? Contact us now and NAME YOUR STAR.
Acceptance subject to status. In the event of your star becoming faulty within 100 years of registration we will replace it free of charge with one of equal or greater value.
1) A 12" telescope may be required in order to see your star - a list of suppliers of these will be included if requested in advance.
2) For geometric reasons this service is not available for the North or South poles and may limit your choice of constellations.
3) Registration with government authorities is updated every 6 months so there may be some delay before you can see the name of your choice in these libraries.
Have you ever been tempted by an advertisment like this? Or do you know someone who has? Recently the Society has been contacted by a number of people who wanted to 'name a star' and I've noticed a number of web searches going on for organisations that provide such services.
While our advert is not meant to be taken seriously, as far as I can tell, there would be nothing illegal in placing it in a newspaper and running our own star naming service.
The information about the observatory is factually correct - if a little incomplete in that it doesn't mention that the Royal Observatory moved out a little over 100 years ago. There is no technical difficulty in producing a list of stars and assigning names to them. After all, naming stars has been going on for thousands of years.
We could provide charts showing the stars - either from a computer planetarium program or (if someone is paying a lot we can afford to be generous) with charts cut out of a copy of Norton's Star Atlas.
I suppose that we wouldn't 'register' the star names until the cheques had cleared.
Since all publications have to be sent to the Copyright Libraries all we need to do is publish our 'register' (as a seriously limited edition book or as a supplement to our Journal) every six months. (Our Journal is in the National Library in Causewayside.) Not that anyone is likely to notice the names we register. The holding of a publication in these libraries doesn't imply any endorsement of the content by these official bodies.
Similar regulations apply in the USA with the Library of Congress so we would probably need to 'publish' something over there to get it into that library.
So, given that there is no Government endorsement of the entries on our register, does that mean that only astronomers would use the names so carefully paid for by our customers? No, not even that will happen. Names of celestial bodies are assigned by the International Astronomical Union according to strict rules. They do not 'sell' names. And the names they assign are only used on this one tiny little planet - what about all the Interplanetary Astronomical Unions scattered around the cosmos?
The names in our register are meaningless. Why would anyone pay for them?
Now it might be that our customers would be happy to pay quite a lot for a certificate and a star chart (more if they want to know when 'their' star rises and sets). And, if the price was low enough, this isn't a bad 'novelty' idea. As long as the customer knows that this is all it is.
There is an IAU note about naming stars on the web at http://www.iau.org/IAU/FAQ/starnames.html which states that ... the IAU dissociates itself entirely from the commercial practice of "selling" fictitious names of stars.
If you hear of someone wanting to 'name a star', why not encourage them to learn more about all the stars. Even if they can't buy one for their exclusive use they can learn how stars work, how the appearance of the night sky changes throughout the year, what the planets are like, and get a whole new perspective on the universe.
If they come up to the Observatory on a clear Friday night we can let them see real stars and planets when they are visible. If they are not from the Edinburgh Area get them to contact their local Astronomical Society (see the lists in the Federation of Astronomical Societies (http://www.fedastro.org.uk/) handbook). Suggest that they lend their support to their local society or perhaps to the Campaign for Dark Skies so that the stars can be seen at night.
There is so much more they could do with their money than give it to an organisation that will 'name a star' for them.
Overall I think I've talked myself out of setting up a Star Registry. So what else can I try? I know...
Ever wanted to have a large bridge between Edinburgh
and Fife named after you?
Choose between road or rail bridges and send your cheque to ....
