Posted to sci.astro:

Newsgroups: sci.astro, sci.astro.amateur, sci.physics
From: "Robert Clark" <rgregorycl...@yahoo.com>
Date: 5 Mar 2005 10:26:25 -0800
Local: Sat, Mar 5 2005 10:26 am
Subject: Could the IAU *officially* assign star names for a fee?

This thread discussed the companies that claim to name a star for a
fee:

From: "Brian Miller" <mille...@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 17:26:40 GMT
Local: Tues, Apr 13 2004 10:26 am
Subject: Naming a Star companies; NOT officially recognized
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...c6631bbb1cf7b8

These companies and the names they assign have no official standing:

http://www.iau.org/IAU/FAQ/sta*rnames.html

On this page the IAU mentions they use a numbering system for stars
because it makes cataloging and finding them easier. But there are
stars that do have names such as Barnard's star.
If names *were* officially assigned to very many stars that really
would not impact astronomers research. They could still use their
numerical naming conventions in their research.
So could the IAU say offer to officially assign the name of a star in
perpetuity for say a $1000 fee? At least one of these star naming
companies claims to have had 1 million customers. At $1,000 each that
could amount to $1 billion. I'm thinking about this going strictly into
astronomy: building new telescopes, funding new space missions etc.
One problem might be suppose a couple of hundred years hence we visit
these systems. You might want to assign the name of the star to an
explorer who first visits it. Or who colonizes a planet in the system.
A more current problem is that you would have cases where someone
would want to name a star "Adolf Hitler". It would be easy to filter
out these requests. But some would not be so easy for an international
union. Would "Karl Marx" be acceptable? Would the "Josef Stalin"? There
are many other such examples.
Note also that world-wide this could conceivable be a yearly income on
this level. For a billion dollars yearly going stricly into
astronomical research I think many astronomers would accept the idea of
their favorite stars being assigned individual names.


Bob Clark

Too expensive. Those $49.95 jobs are bought for Valentine's Day.

I think ToSeek had a more viable idea.

A Google query brings up ads with a price as low as $24.95.

I can't believe you can move the price point 4000-percent and get anywhere near as many customers. You'd have to offer a lot, lot more at that price.

Now, what was suggested does, in reality, provide more value (sort of, not to me) with an IAU-sanctioned name, but I gotta believe most of the customers of the existing services already think they are getting an official naming -- e.g., "registered with the copyright office of the Library of Congress in the United States of America". How are you gonna compete with Name A Star, Inc.?

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The key is that this really would be the official name and this is the name that will be used by astronomers in perpetuity.
Most educated persons know that these star naming companies have no official capacity. If the officially sanctioned name was available for a fee then you would have wealthy people willing to pay larger prices for the brightest stars. Also, keep in mind this will be operated by a non-profit organization on the order of the AAAS so people will know it's analogous to donating to a charity, with the accompanying tax deductibility status, unlike with the star naming companies.
Also since this is the official name, in the computer programs giving star locations these names for the stars would be listed along with their numerical designation. For example in the thread on sci.astro some astronomers who operated observatories or planetariums mentioned how disappointed or angry people became when the astronomers couldn't find "their" star in the star finding program or they couldn't locate it in the sky. With the IAU official designation the names would be included in the computer programs with accurate coordinates. You might also include a short biography of the person who named the star when you pulled up the star name.
Since these are the official designations of the stars you would want to include these names with any scientific publications discussing the star. It might be too long to include both the numerical designation and the personal name every time the star is mentioned in a paper, so you might use only the numerical name in the paper itself, but at the end give an acknowledgement to the person it's named after. It might be phrased for example like: "The authors wish to thank John T. Smith for supporting the further advancement of astronomy, and in particular our study of John T. Smith's star."
You could even have a greater premium being charged for stars that undergo the greatest study and receive the greatest mention in scientific publications. And you could have a notice sent, as part of the support fee, to the supporter whenever a paper appears discussing their star with a short description written at popular science level on why that study is important.
With a potential in flow I say in the hundreds of millions of dollars or more *yearly* to astronomy, I think most astronomers would be in favor of such a small acknowledgement at the end of their papers. And in absolutely the truest sense those supporters WILL be paying for that astronomers research since the total amount would go not only to building more observatories and instruments but also into supporting scientists research.
You might also allow the supporter to choose a star being studied by universities nearby. So when they receive acknowledgement of a paper studying their star they could go to open public viewing dates at the university's observatory and ask to see their star.


Bob Clark

Somehow i don't think astronomers are too keen on "Invesco Star in the Coors Nebula". Or Hoagland's Cluster.

__________________
"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" - Al E.

"I liked it so much, I bought the observatory!" -- John J. McCarthy