AGN do you think there is harm to the living in naming a star after a dead relative? Was that woman comforted to see a star that was "named" after her husband?

In principle, no - provided that the person is aware that the 'name' has no formal status. But the same result can be achieved by buying a star chart & picking a pretty/interesting/significant for whatever reason star yourself - no-one is going to argue.

Normally with these (at least here in Oz), the stars 'allocated' are 7th or 8th mag and they usually also give a crude star chart - so it is possible to identify the specific star. What annoyed me in this particular case was that the lady had received a 'star' that would have been quite indistinguishable from the countless other stars that would have been in the same FOV - as well as being from a practical perspective unidentifiable from the broad co-ordinates that she had been given. I mean - 13th magnitude, for heaven's sake! :x She had sought something personal and unique, but that's not really what she received.

I must admit also that my motives were not completely altruistic. Sagittarius was still several hours away from rising, whereas Canopus was still a reasonable altitude above the SW horizon, but low enough that it was shimmering & very colourful through an SCT - I just thought at the time (rightly or wrongly) that it would make a better tribute than some 13th mag speck in a sea of specks.

Was she comforted? Don't know. I hope so.

I like the idea of privately naming a star for your children. I'll have to take the kids out and do that sometime.
Its free and to a young child it won't matter a bit that its not official.

Do it - it's fun! And it is a great excuse to get the kids away from the TV and out under a dark sky. 8)

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