You Can’t Buy a Star But You Can Adopt One
Then again…
I'm sure you must have come across a site baiting you to buy a star for your loved one and for a good price as well. Heres the thing, as much as I've been baffled by how people give in to such scams, I'm not so sure anymore.
Hear me out.
You absolutely can not buy a star. There is no commercial star registration, and no star catalog, local observatory, or anyone connected to the scientific community would recognize your rights to a star.
As the 1967 Outer Space Treaty proclaims:
Outer space shall be the province of all humankind and be explored in the interests of all countries, not a government or one particular person.
So whats the point?
Thing is, nobody really cares. Buying such a thing is sentimental in value. Its not about the world looking up and saying "hey, thats Jacobs star" and now you’ve got something outliving you, its about the gesture, the fancy paper that comes with it, the moments you and your loved ones look through that telescope to the exact coordinates of the star and relish its beauty. You paid to make those long lasting memories. Sure, we’re all being delusional and 50 other people are given the same star but gifts like this make dazzling memories as well as stories. I don’t see how this differs from buying a house other people have lived in only to make different memories from theirs that you will cherish. Same star, different people, different memories, everyones happy.
With that being said, lets get back to the facts. A star is never yours and never will be unless you’ve done something grand in your life time and the International Astronomical Union thought you were worth being turned into a historical figure like these people:
• Cervantes (Mu Arae). Named after Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes.
• Copernicus (55 Cancri A). Named after astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
• Cor Caroli (“The Heart of Charles” – Alpha Canum Venaticorum). Named after King Charles I of England
But as the IAU clearly stated:
“As an international scientific organization, the IAU dissociates itself entirely from the commercial practice of “selling” fictitious star names, surface feature names, or real estate on other planets or moons in the Solar System.”
Adopting a star
You can't buy a star but you can adopt one. What does that mean?
Some non-profit organizations suggest to “adopt a star”, which means donating to the research of particular sky objects. You still won’t find your name in official catalogs and won’t truly own a star, but you will get a star certificate for your pleasure and a star marked on the organization’s internal data bank in Google Sky. And the real benefit is that you will contribute to science. What better way to live your life knowing you contributed to science. Its like adopting a star in your care to watch it flourish in the science department.
This might be better than actually buying one for all those non-sentimental people out there.
Bottom line: I don't blame people for buying stars that will never be truly theirs but as an astronomy lover, I'd rather buy a telescope and get those free stargazing apps that will help me to learn the actual names, locations, and further details about the infinite universe.
