Some time ago, individuals,acting alone, decided that they could make money by offering Real Estate on Solar System Bodies
or Naming Stars.
Here are the facts:
Real Estate here on The Earth is governed by certain laws. Usually, a owner of a piece of property will
meet with Real Estate Agents and prospective Buyers. The property in question will be shown and the owner or owners
spoken with. If the individual in question wants to buy the property, the paperwork is signed, money is exchanged and
the new owner takes charge of the property.
Not so with Real Estate on Solar System Bodies!
And of course, I have to smile as I write this but not really because apparently, some folks are buying this Scam!
First of all, other than The Moon, no one has ever been to Mars or Venus or any other Solar System Body, personally.
And the nearest Real Estate Agent is on Earth.
Then there is the little problem of International Space Law.
The Outer Space Treaty is the important piece of Legislation here, signed by members of The United Nations in 1966.
It says in part that no nation has sovereignty over any Planet.
If any Nation does not have Sovereignty over any other Solar System Body then individuals would not have the right to own
Real Estate on them.
As the old adage goes:
Buyer Beware and Buyer Be Aware!
NAMING A STAR....
All of the Stars that you can see with your eyes alone, those we call Naked Eye Stars have either proper names given to
them by the ancient Greeks & Arabs thousands of years ago or go by their Constellation name.
For example,
the brightest Star in the sky has a proper name of Sirius. It is also called the Dog Star after the constellation it
resides in called Canis Major or the Big Dog. It also has another designation of Alpha ( Brightest Star ) Canis Majoris.
All other Stars in each Constellation go by the same Greek designation, in order of Magnitude or Brightness. Thus the second
brightest Star in Canis Major would be named Beta.
Dimmer Stars though have numeric names given to them by the
Astronomers who officially looked at them in an Astronomical Survey.
Unofficially though, if a Star is studied
by a PhD Astronomer it can be unofficially named as in the case if Barnard's Star studied by the late, great Astronomer Edward
Emerson Barnard.
Officially, there is a group, made up of Professional Astronomers called the International Astronomical
Union that makes decisions on the naming of other bodies such as planets and the naming of geographic features.
Asteroids
discovered can be named by their discovers.
Comets that are visually discovered are named after the individuals
who discovered them. They can have up to and including 3 names.
Any company, regardless of it's name or
title, that purports to be able to
"Name a Star" for you or your loved one,is actually....
SCAMMING
YOU!
The truth is that Your named Star will never be recorded as such by professional or amateur astronomers!
They will never use your name if that star turns up to be special at all!
NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW IT IS "YOUR
STAR".
And in fact, you could save quite a bit of money, make out your own
certificate, and it would still
be as meaningful as if you purchased it from one of these companies!
So, if you truly would like to have a loved
one "Remembered" you can always donate to your local Planetarium or Science Museum or in fact your local Astronomy Club!
You
might even want to donate some money or perhaps buy a Telescope for your Local High School!
So, please don't
"BUY A STAR" from any of these folks!
