Tip Center Category: Name a Star

Clarifying the Misconceptions About Name-a-Star Companies

The existence of numerous name-a-star companies has led many to ask the question: can you really name a star after someone? In addition, if so, what separates one company from the other?

The answer to the first question is a qualified no. The only entity with the authority to officially “name” stars is the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a globally recognized organization that assigns catalog numbers to stars, planets and asteroids for purely scientific purposes. An official press release from the IAU clarifies some of the common misconceptions about their affiliation with name-a-star companies.

The concept of naming a star after someone is symbolic - but it’s a gesture that can hold deep personal meaning to both the dedicator and recipient. What truly separates one name-a-star company from the other is the quality of gift packages and the additional services offered. Name a Star Live is the only such company that actually launches payloads into space, sending the names and dedications of all gift recipients along for the ride as a complement to all of their gift packages. Name a Star Live is also the only name-a-star company to offer SLOOH, an online telescope you can use via your computer to see your star, LIVE.

Finding the Right Words, Even if You Have to Borrow

Naming a star after someone is a gesture rich in meaning. Choosing the right words for a dedication can be an arduous task, but if inspiration fails you can always borrow the words of someone else who’s said it better. Many online resources are available to help you find what you’re looking for.

• Brainy Quote offers a library of famous quotes that’s teeming with insight and inspiration. Their browse options are arranged by topic, author name or author type to better help refine your search.
  
  Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back. (Anais Nin)
  
• Great Quotes contains nearly half a million famous quotes and proverbs, in addition to thousands of user-submitted quotes.
  
  I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars. (Og Mandino)
  
• Romantic Lyrics leans more heavily toward contemporary song lyrics, but also provides evidence that pop music doesn’t always have to be banal.
  
  We all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun. (John Lennon)

Sumer, Babylon and Ancient Egypt: The Vanguards of Astronomy

The naming of stars and the desire to ascribe an earthly significance to heavenly bodies is nothing new to mankind. Long before the invention of the telescope, humans were cataloguing and naming the stars.

Evidence suggests the ancient Sumerians, a civilization once located in southern Iraq, were the first people known to name stars. Clay tablets that depict the position of the stars are thought to have been used as a zodiac as long ago as 6,000 years.

It wasn’t until the rise of the ancient Babylonians that the first known star catalogues were compiled. Babylonian astrologers conceived of the first constellations by associating certain mythological and religious images with the prominent outlines of star groups. In ancient Egypt, the study of the stars played a crucial role in nearly every aspect of daily life.

The stars have held mankind’s fascination for thousands of years. Modern technology gives us the opportunity to appreciate them in a way previous generations could not. When you buy a star name in honor of a loved one you’re not only paying them tribute, but you’re also honoring the memory of those civilizations that came before.

The Constellations of Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire

The practice of attaching names of significance to the stars is one that predates the modern society by thousands of years. However, back before scientists could even grasp the enormity of the universe and the immense number of stars within it, earlier civilizations were cataloguing what they saw in the sky, and giving names to the stars.

Those civilizations whose contributions have had the greatest lasting effect on the modern world’s perception of the stars and approach to astronomy were ancient Greece and Rome. To this day, our sky is filled with Greek mythology, many of their names still in use by the International Astronomical Union. Interestingly enough, while the myths behind the constellations are Greek in origin, they’re referred to by their Latin names.

Ptolemy developed a comprehensive ancient star catalog during the 2nd century A.D. in Rome. His treatise, The Great System of Astronomy, grouped 1,022 stars into 48 constellations. This treatise was later translated into Arabic under its more popular name, the Almagest. Indeed, most commonly-used star names are of Arabic origin. These days, astronomers are continuing the work begun by their predecessors throughout history.

Name a star companies give each of us an opportunity to take a small, symbolic part in the age-old tradition of naming the stars.

The Constellations in Ancient America

Long before the discovery of the Americas, Native Americans were mythologizing the stars and transposing earthly stories to the face of the heavens as a means of understanding their purpose.

The Constellation of Orion and “The Canoe Race”

According to the Chinook tribe of Southwest Washington, the Constellation of Orion depicts a celestial race between two canoes to catch a salmon swimming through the Big River—now known to everyone as the Milky Way.

Today, technology has allowed astronomers to gain a deeper understanding of the makeup of the stars, and their place in our universe. Yet amid all of these advances, the human race’s deep-rooted, mythical fascination with the stars has hardly diminished. To the contrary, the stars are more magical and mysterious today because of what science has uncovered. When you name your own star or dedicate a star in the honor of a loved one, you celebrate both the mystery and the science.