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Old 17-06-2008, 11:47 AM
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Name a star

What do people think of the idea of paying $300 to get a star named?
See here. I think it's disgraceful, especially when bereaved relatives pay out good money to "name" a star after their departed family member. They are very careful to say they "associate" a name with a star in their catalogue and keep a record of it. I did a bit of a search and couldn't see how to access the list of names, so it doesn't seem to be in the public domain. If so, what's the point? Raise money by duping those who don't know any better I guess.

Another point is that people all around the world are doing this. It would be interesting to see how many names some of the stars have accumulated.
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Old 17-06-2008, 12:10 PM
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renormalised (Carl)
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Quite frankly, it's just another example of capitalism gone rampant (or is that crazy). These shysters should be jailed for ripping people off like this. Actually, the whole practice of "naming" anything, for dubious purposes and profit motivation, should be banned (legislated against, at least).
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Old 17-06-2008, 12:59 PM
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I had a friend who lost her only child to a brain tumour at 18 years of age.
She lost her husband to a brain tumour just on 11 months before.

4 of us got together and named a star in honour of her daughter.
Yeah we know it's a crock, she possibly does to.

But that $300 we spent was the best $300 we've ever spent and that certificate is one of the first things she'd grab if her house was on fire.
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Old 17-06-2008, 02:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by madtuna View Post
I had a friend who lost her only child to a brain tumour at 18 years of age.
She lost her husband to a brain tumour just on 11 months before.

4 of us got together and named a star in honour of her daughter.
Yeah we know it's a crock, she possibly does to.

But that $300 we spent was the best $300 we've ever spent and that certificate is one of the first things she'd grab if her house was on fire.
Ah you really are a softy deep down and I called you an opportunist!!!
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Old 17-06-2008, 03:01 PM
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Hmmm. interesting, but I totally disagree with you, I know of a number of people who have a certificate with a special star named after the loved one that has departed this world.

They get great comfort and joy when they venture out on a clear night, look up at their special Star, and give great thought about there lost loved one.

These people I know had this done for them for free, there was no money exchange, but done out of love for them, and there family.

A few years ago our dear friend and neighbour lost her husband to a brain tumor, he was 34 and left a 6 week old daughter behind and a loving wife of equal age.

I did this for them because, I could, and they hang it with pride in their home, and reflect on it often, and often point to that Star when outside.

There is accompying certificate that gives a full description, of the selected Star, plus where it is, name coordinates etc, so it can be located wherever they are.

I have done others as well, for free, and see no harm in it what so ever

Leon
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  #6  
Old 17-06-2008, 04:40 PM
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If the star is visible with the naked eye, then it will already have an accepted name and no certificate will change that. Why not just pick a star in the sky (Sirius say) and resolve to think of the loved one whenever Sirius is sighted.
I realise people may get comfort from having a certificate saying that a particular star has a loved ones name and if this is done without money changing hands, then it is harmless. However, this is just my point. In many cases it is not free. Sydney Observatory charges $300. Money is extracted from people suffering bereavment under the impression that the name has some official recognition. If there was some qualifying statement on the back of the certificate such as "This star name is only recognised by our list. Other people on other lists may also have paid to name this star" then I might find it more acceptable.
Geoff
Note added: This site is at least honest. They say
"The scientific community refers to stars by catalog numbers and astronomical coordinates. Your star name and message will be recorded in our database and in an orbiting SSI Archive, but no star-naming service changes the scientific designations of stars."
If they all did this it would at least be clear to people who read the fine print.

Last edited by Geoff45; 17-06-2008 at 05:29 PM.
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Old 17-06-2008, 05:26 PM
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Geoff, I realise that the Star name cant be changed, and this is not what it is all about, well not from my point of view.

It was only done in a harmless exercise to give something different to some one, charging the fees that you have outlined is a disgrace, I agree.

Not to agree with their methods, but this sort of stuff has been going on for ages.

Leon
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Old 18-06-2008, 09:56 AM
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Aside the fair chunk of cash you pay for this service.. its really up to the buyer to judge its value..If they get some sort of closure and the smallest amount of relief from the unimaginable grief they are going through ,I'm not sure we have any right to judge that .


great stuff Leon It must of been very special to be able to do this for your friends family.
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Old 18-06-2008, 10:26 AM
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Cool Star Names

G'day

if you must pay at least its fully tax deduction here

http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/star/prices.asp
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  #10  
Old 18-06-2008, 09:10 PM
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Auckland "STARDOME" observatory - "Adopt-a-star" $60 donation

One person only per star...(on their database)

http://www.stardome.org.nz/adopt-a-star/default.asp
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  #11  
Old 18-06-2008, 09:47 PM
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Unless the person selling this service makes it clear that the "name" has no recognition whatsoever beyond the list they keep on their own computer then they are simply scamming people. If you want to associate a star with a dead friend or relative you don't need to pay some shyster $300 for a certificate that probably costs about 20 cents to print off a PC to do it. This is in the same league as people who claim to sell you real estate on the Moon or Mars.
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  #12  
Old 18-06-2008, 10:49 PM
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With billions of stars more stars than their are people on Earth how hard would it be for the powers to be too give stars not yet named real names belonging too people Ok so what if we end up with Paparopolos 123 or Smith 1, 2, 3, 4. hey who'll remember them anyway in 50 years but a great way for the naming authority to make money for serious projects as long as they don't get greedy
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  #13  
Old 19-06-2008, 02:07 AM
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My very own star??

Hi All,

Up front, I'm a paid night-guide at Sydney Observatory where we run such a programme.

I've been following this thread with some interest as when our programme started 4-odd years ago I was dead agin it, but I must confess, I have now softened my view at least somewhat.

The Observatory's rationale behind getting into this was to firstly raise money for the up-keep of the building and instruments at the observatory, so the money goes to a _relatively_ good cause. If other bodies like the "international star registry" are going to charge $300 for little more than a pretty certificate and a dose of the warm fuzzys, we figured the money was better off maintaining the obs that lining someone else's pockets. Plus we figured we could offer a lot more than just a pretty certificate ...

They don't see just any-old star -- the stars people name at Sydney are from the Sydney Observatory star catalogue. This catalogue was actually compiled at Sydney using our own instruments as part of the Carte du ciel among other projects. The stars are usually between 6th and 9th magnitude -- so a small 'scope will show them..

But our big plus is that included in the fee, is a 20 min viewing for two, of your star at the observatory under the "expert guidance of an astronomer". This includes showing with a green laser exactly where it is in the sky.

Plus, because they are all relatively bright stars, most have known distances, spectral classes and luminosity classes etc -- so we can actually tell the person a bit about the star they have "bought" "named" -- whatever, like how big it is, how much more luminous it is than the Sun, what colour it is, how long it will live etc etc.

As I said, I was dead against it when it started and frankly I did it under protest -- at first. But now 4 years down the track and about 1500 stars named (I must have done 200-odd viewings), I have to concede there are a lot of positives to the programme.

Probably 1/3rd of the stars are remembrance stars that have been named for a loved one including Mums, Dads, Grans and even lost babies, miscarriages etc etc. The people actually get a lot out of it, there are tears shed, and memories shared.

Quite a few are bought by grandparents for the grandkids and a lot of the grandkids couldn't give a hoot. Quite a few also are wedding (etc) anniversary stars.

Most of the rest are bought by lovers (star-crossed ones) (sorry about that) and these are really interesting to watch. I could tell you a lot of interesting tales about (desperate) fellas who bought a girl a star way, way too early in the relationship (1st or 2nd date) when she was plainly not interested in him and thought it was all a bit (sometmes a lot) weird.

On the other hand there have been a few (ahem) very successful ones for the fella because he has bought one for the girl at the appropriate juncture as a romantic gesture and after the viewing you could see they couldn't get out of the place fast enough to ummm ... you know ...

I've seen about half-a-dozen marriage proposals -- most were successful. There was one very notable one that was spectacularly unsuccessful.

What I've come to realise is that it isn't about science -- its about people and relationships and having what they see as an eternal, immovable memorial (well relative to a human being) or witness to remember a person or an event or a time. So, if it is done "properly" (like we do it) its not so bad and we get a lot of money for the upkeep of the place we wouldn't otherwise have.

Whaddaya reckon?

Best,

Les D
Contributing Editor
AS&T
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