International Astronomical Union?

[Mr Manifesto]

In Sydney, a little girl was run over by accident by a four-wheel drive (Yanks might call them SUV's). She was five. Naturally, her death rocked the school. To cope with their grief, they 'bought' naming rights from the International Astronomical Union.

This appears to be it. Has the school been bilked? I can't see how any organisation can compell astronomers to call stars anything other than THX-1138, or whatever they feel like calling a given star.

[Avian]

I think the name you probably (or someone) really heard was the notorius International Star Registry. They have absolutley no more official standing in astronomy than your cat. But they trick the public into thinking they do. It's just a scam.

For a price, you can "buy" a star from them. They tout that "your star" is registered in the U.S. copyright office. When people hear that, they think that makes it official or something. Of course they just write it in a book and submit it for copyright, just as you can write down nonsense words and ramblings and submit that to the copyright office.

The International Astronomical Union, on the other hand, is the organizing scientific body for all things astronomical. It's there that the "official" names for moons, planets, and large asteroids and the like get ratified. No one can buy naming rights to anything.

The State of New York has attempted to sue the ISR to stop them from operating. I don't think they've had much success since their ads are very specific about what they do, despite being very misleading.

[Brian the Snail]

This link might also be useful:

http://www.ibiblio.org/ips/Starnaming.html

Quote:

The star names recognized and used by scientists are those that have been established through long-time usage or published by astronomers at credible scientific institutions. The International Astronomical Union, the worldwide federation of astronomical societies, accepts and uses only those names. Such names are never sold. Private groups in business to make money may claim to "name a star for you or a loved one, providing the perfect gift for many occasions."

You should also check out the FAQ of the link you gave. From here

Quote:

As an international scientific organization, the IAU dissociates itself entirely from the commercial practice of "selling" fictitious star names or "real estate" on other planets or moons in the Solar System. Accordingly, the IAU maintains no list of the (several competing) enterprises in this business in individual countries of the world. Readers wanting to contact such enterprises despite the explanations given below should search commercial directories in their country of origin.

[Mr Manifesto]

Fair enough, then. Thanks for the help.

[The Bad Astronomer]

The Star Naming FAQ.

The ISR used to be an evil company. Perhaps now they are simply nefarious. Beats me. I lambasted them pretty well in my book; I called them several times to get their side, but they never called back. I am too small potatoes for them, I assume, since they make millions.

[tracer]

And not only will astronomers not recognize the name you buy for a star through that International Star Registry company, there are other companies (such as Star Wishing) that will try to sell you the naming "rights" to the same stars that ISR sells!

So you're not even guaranteed that the star you buy the name to from one company won't have been "sold" to someone else by another company.

Hmmm ... that gives me an idea. Anybody want to give me money to name a star after them? I'll sell you any star you want -- Sirius, Polaris, Betelgeuse, you name it -- for only $19.95! That's less than half of what you'll pay to one of those other star naming companies! Plus, you'll get an official-looking certificate printed out from the low-resolution black-and-white laser printer in my office, and I'll write your star's name down in a big impressive-looking book someplace. And unlike those other star naming companies, I'll let you buy the same star that someone else has already bought! Why settle for some dim 6th-magnitude dot on an outdated star chart, when you can buy any of the bright 1st-magnitude dots on an outdated star chart, any number of times?

Act now, and I'll throw in this set of six steak knives! (Okay, you'll only get a picture of 6 steak knives, but they're real pretty-looking!)

[kookbreaker]

I would also like to point out that the people who run ISR are pretty scummy. I was running a booth at a trade show in New York for my job when one of these guys came up to our booth wanting to talk about some kind of arrangement between our companies. My thoughts of the experience:

1) The guy and his assistant were the definition of sleazy, pudgy, greasy unpleasant human beings. Shifty doesn't begin to describe them.

2) They pretended to know more about astronomy than they actually knew. I caught them in several very basic mistakes. There is no "Orion Star Cluster", you couldn't possibly use that particular Star Atlas to name stars after people since it is barely a Mag 4 only and you'd run out of stars in a week, plus they mostly already have names, describing your telescope by its 675x magnifcation does not impress me, plus other errors.

3) They both had badges with the same name. When asked (and pressed) about this they admitted that one was a color copy of the other badge and they had 'liberated' the first badge. This is a violation of the Convention Center rules as you cannot wear a badge of another person's name. (Exception: If, due to circumstances (such as a blizzard) the person named cannot attend they can send a representative who wears their badge. But must carry an agenting letter around at all times.) I quietly told security about them after they left. Don't know what came of it.

4) They monopolized a lot of our time despite the gist that they weren't really wanted there. I was borderline hostile, the others from my company didn't know who they were but didn't like them. I told them several times to clear the booth area so that another client could view what we carried. (They were in the habit of planing their day suitcase and sitting on it, right in the middle of our limited walkways.

Ugh. Sleazy inside and out. My vote goes for "evil" Bad Astronomer.

[Avian]

One caveat to this whole ISR thing...

Some museums and very deserving institutions set up a program where you can "buy" a star to help raise money for the institution. I set up a program like this for The Carnegie in Pittsburgh in the early 90s. They would "purchase" a star, and we'd print off a fine-looking certificate with all the scientific information about that star.

Of course, we let everyone who was interested in participating knew there was no official meaning to thier purchase. But folks were glad to do it anyway, and we were able to show some folks where there star was in the sky in the planetarium. It was a great way to educate and raise money while recognizing their contribution in a unique way.

Definately different than the for-profit bloodsuckers at the ISR!

[BTox]

Quote:

Originally posted by The Bad Astronomer
The Star Naming FAQ.

The ISR used to be an evil company. Perhaps now they are simply nefarious. Beats me. I lambasted them pretty well in my book; I called them several times to get their side, but they never called back. I am too small potatoes for them, I assume, since they make millions.

I've read that they have sued universities that have had internet sites warning people about this absurd scam.

[tracer]

I just saw the soppy, sentimental movie Family Man (starring Nicholas Cage and Tea Leoni).

In one scene, the daughter tells Nicholas Cage's character that once, for their wedding anniversary, he'd "had a star named after" his wife.