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Name a star
As stated at 9th
Biennial Conference June 30, 1988 at the Science Museum of Virginia
Selling Star Names - A wealth warning
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." One organization offers to
register that name in a Geneva, Switzerland, vault and to place that name in
their beautiful copyrighted catalog. However official-sounding this procedure
may seem, the name and the catalog are not recognized or used by any scientific
institution. Furthermore, the official-looking star charts that commonly
accompany a "purchased star name" are the Becvar
charts excerpted from the Becvar
Atlas. While these are legitimate star charts, published by Sky Publishing
Corporation, they have been modified by the private "star name"
business unofficially. Unfortunately, there are instances of news media
describing the purchase of a star name, apparently not realizing that they are
promoting a money-making business only, and not science. Advertising and media
promotion both seem to increase during holiday periods. Planetariums and museums
occasionally "sell" stars as a way to raise funds for their non-profit
institutions. Normally these institutions are extremely careful to explain that
they are not officially naming stars and that the "naming" done for a
donation is for amusement only.
Official Star-Naming Procedures
Bright stars from first to third magnitude have proper names that have been
in use for hundreds of years. Most of these names are Arabic. Examples are
Betelgeuse, the bright orange star in the constellation Orion, and Dubhe, the
second-magnitude star at the edge of the Big Dipper's cup (Ursa Major). A few
proper star names are not Arabic. One is Polaris, the second-magnitude star at
the end of the handle of the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor). Polaris also carries
the popular name, the North Star. A second system for naming bright stars was
introduced in 1603 by J. Bayer of Bavaria. In his constellation atlas, Bayer
assigned successive letters of the Greek alphabet to the brighter stars of each
constellation. Each Bayer designation is the Greek letter with the genitive form
of the constellation name. Thus Polaris is Alpha Ursae Minoris. Occasionally,
Bayer switched brightness order for serial order in assigning Greek letters. An
example of this is Dubhe as Alpha Ursae Majoris, with each star along the Big
Dipper from the cup to handle having the next Greek letter. Faint stars are
designated in different ways in catalogs prepared and used by astronomers. One
is the Bonner Durchmusterung, compiled at Bonn Observatory starting in 1837. A
third of a million stars are listed by "BD numbers." The Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) Catalogue, the Yale Star Catalog, and The
Henry Draper Catalog published by Harvard College Observatory are all widely
used by astronomers. The Supernova of 1987 (Supernova 1987a), one of the major
astronomical events of this century, was identified with the star named SK -69
202 in the very specialized catalog, the Deep Objective Prism Survey of the
Large Magellanic Cloud, published by the Warner
and Swasey Observatory. These procedures and catalogs accepted by the
International Astronomical Union are the only means by which stars receive
long-lasting names. Be aware that no one can buy immortality for anyone in the
form of a star name.
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