We had a robust discussion a few months ago about Sydney Observatory's Name-A-Star program:-
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=60378
I had a discussion with the Observatory staff member, paid my tax-deductible donation, and a star in the Sydney Southern Star Catalogue has been named in their records, a star to which I can feel a certain attachment.
I give you "Estelle's Star".
Estelle is my big sister who I never knew. She was born four years before I was, and lived only three days. The name Estelle is reportedly from an old French name which was derived from Latin
stella, meaning "star".
I sought a star close to the Jewel Box (NGC 4755). I always associate the Jewel Box with my father (died in 1999, before I ever saw the Jewel Box). He had mentioned to me, after seeing it through a telescope once when I was young, that I had to see it one day. Estelle's Star is in Crux, a simple star hop from the Jewel Box and at the top of a nice "kite" asterism.
RA 12hr 49m 27.45s, Dec -60deg 41m 57.11 s (J2000.) Mag 8.94
Easily seen in a telescope, can be glimpsed in 10x50 binoculars under dark skies.
Have a look if you wish (no fee payable
) and think of Estelle.
Many thanks to the helpful folks at the Sydney Observatory. The Certificate is lovely and says "A loving memorial for our big sister". I am looking forward to showing this and the star to my younger sister.
Stellarium region and photos attached.
Acknowledgment:-
B/W images from the STScI Digitized Sky Survey
http://stdatu.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form
Colour images cropped from images acquired by avandonk and published on IIS (many thanks Bert)