One of my neigbours turned up on my doorstep and told me that he had just "bought a star" for his wife. He wanted me to help him find it in the sky.
How do I tell him that he has just thrown his money away without actualy insulting him?
(Why not pick a nice, easy to find star, like the Sun?)

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The meek will inherit the earth ... the rest of us will go to the stars.

there's no way to do it..

I suppose you could ask him for all pertinent information, and then explain that such info is bogus (I don't know, but do they actually include catalog numbers?) Should also ask under what international law the company was operating, to make said naming internationally official.

After that, grab the nearest baseball bat and bash him in the head.

I grant, it's a nice romantic gesture, and if it had a lick of honesty to it, I'd be at the head of the line.. but really!

My aunt's family did this for her, then one of my cousins asked me to set up my 6" APO refractor in her light-polluted back yard and let everybody look at "her" star. Personally, I did not want to engage in a couple of hours of driving and equipment set-up as an adjunct to some flim-flam artist's scheme, but I figured I was stuck. Luckily, a quick look at Uranometria and a spin of the Whitney star-finder showed that the star was going to be coming over the horizon at a spectacularly late (actually early morning) hour for all the little grandchildren and the project was put off, and never revisited. I did explain as gently as I could to him that although the star's new name would be included in a book (the scammer's come-on included a promise that included incorporation into the Library of Congress in some fashion), nobody who cares about astronomy would ever even open the book, much less incorporate the "new" name into their work.

If your neighbor has an email account, you can send him this link:

http://www.enzerink.net/peter/astronomy/starfaq/

If he's a decent guy, he will realize you are trying to do him a favor and won't take it personally.

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The ether of general relativity therefore differs from that of classical mechanics or the special theory of relativity respectively, in so far as it is not 'absolute', but is determined in its locally variable properties by ponderable matter.

Albert Einstein, "On the Ether", 1924

Y'know what? Just help him find where in the sky it is located, and maybe try to foster some interest in astronomy. let him find out on his own that it is a scam. This ain't the Nigerian bank transfer. Why take away someone's joy? It would be like telling his kid there is no Santa/Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy. Yes, it is a scam. But to me it falls under a pick your battles philospohy - you can't fight all the wars, pick the ones that matter most.

And then offer to sell him more stars at a discount rate. Everyone knows astronomers can get stars cheaper. "Bob, just because you are such a good friend..."

Just a thought...

Good idea! You could sell him one that is easy to find naked-eye, like Arcturus (for Northern latitudes). You'd have to charge substantially more since it is so bright and prominent, but you could give him the "1/2 off for neighbors" discount, so it would only cost $250 or so. Print up a nice certificate, too.

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The ether of general relativity therefore differs from that of classical mechanics or the special theory of relativity respectively, in so far as it is not 'absolute', but is determined in its locally variable properties by ponderable matter.

Albert Einstein, "On the Ether", 1924

A nice certificate,yes. You can even have it notarized - for a fee of course.

Arcturus is a good one, darn, I would have liked that one. And I think if you select one that is up all year round, that should command a higher price. SOmething like Sirius is flashy (style, not magnitude) but isn't visible half the year.

Double stars can be had at only 50% greater price than a single.

I like that idea!

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The meek will inherit the earth ... the rest of us will go to the stars.

Why did you start insulting him in the first place?

Actually it's quite a romantic, albeit misguided, gesture.

Unless the guy is a close friend, I wouldn't bother telling him. No one is the wiser, he and and his wife are happy. No point in ruining the moment.

The family of a friend of mine did the same thing for a sick family member. My friend knew the facts, but I don't think he told anyone.

The Star Registry lists all of their customers' stars in a book and copyrights the book. All copyrighted material is registered with The Library of Congress. It doesn't mean that The Library of Congress agrees with all of the material in every copyrighted book, but the Star Registry doesn't mention that. They say just enough to make their customers come to the conclusion that the names are officially recognized by the U.S. government.

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Life is like a box of chocolates. All of your choices are bad for you.

Let someone else do it.

Instead, it's your job to enrichen his wife, and that of his wife, by helping him find his star, and then telling him all about it, so he can tell his wife.

Take a picture of "her star," frame it, and give it to them on their anniversary.

Of course they wanted the round-trip tickets to Vegas, but after a year or so, that picture on the wall will do more to communicate his love for her than anything he may have said since "Hey, honey! I just bought you a star! Only cost $50, there's so many of them!"

And you will have made their hearts proud of one another, joyous on all occasions.

His wife has a wife? How very liberal and modern.

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I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, was in no way fair comment and was motivated purely by malice. I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.

Somehow I get the feeling that this particular activity could cause you a lot more trouble than just telling him about the scam.

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A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

I think I'll set up a new, competitive company that will put these "star naming" start-ups out of business.

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A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

Well, no, 'cause that would be a lie! You certainly didn't intend to imply to the members of this board that Santa Claus doesn't actually exist, did you?!

The truth is, though, we're talking about an adult, not a kid.

That being said, I agree with you. It's his $50, there's no real harm done. Don't go out of the way to tell him the star naming is legally meaningless, but answer truthfully if he gives an opening by asking about it. In fact, I would suggest acting like he already knew it wasn't legitimate, but did it anyway because he felt it was a nice gesture. After all, it's possible that that's exactly what happened.

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SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2009 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF

I dunno.. i think that we go out of our way too much to not hurt everyone else's feelings.

I would say - don't offer your opinion. But if asked, tell the person very plainly exactly what they bought. Explain what "record" means, invite them to research it on the web, but be polite and do it without a sense of superiority. That's key. You're not laughing at him, just explaining exactly what he purchased.

as an aside... if people will pay $100- for a star, imagine what the IAU would get for selling out?? $10,000?? $100,000 a star? We could easily pay for the next generation of telescopes!!

Yes, i know.. im far too machiavellian. (evil grin)

john

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"Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel."

--Ambrose Bierce

http://threelittleboxes.com

Now that's a good idea. There are plenty of folks with money to burn who would love to have something like that. only $100 people at $100,000 a pop is $10,000,000. Who would take a ride in MIR when they can get something more permanent like having a star with their name that will actually be recognized by the scientific community?

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I met this wonderful girl at Macy's. She was buying clothes and I was putting Slinkies on the escalator.
-Steven Wright



My Website: The Black Cat's Web Page

... With some unfortunate side effects:

The supermassive black hole in the middle of our galaxy gets bought and named Microsoft.

Polaris would have to be renamed as the result of a trademark lawsuit with Polaris (the snow mobile company). Polaris would then buy it and rename it Polaris[tm].

The Trump Supernova?

Someone will think they've spotted the virgin Mary in some nebula somewhere and it'll get bought by that online casino GoldenMemorabilia.com.

That notorious Carina sub-cloud would inevitably get bought by Dick Cheney. (Kidding. Kidding! Please don't ban me, Wolverine! Eek! )

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. o O ( "Quote that 'Blazing Saddles' scene at Mike, and the BAUTer gets it! " )