Thinking about "buying" a star from one of those star-naming companies you've heard about? Well, here are some sources of information about "buying" and/or naming stars, and what you "really" get from those companies. These links include a description of the official International Astronomical Union (IAU) policy on naming stars (the IAU is the official authority on star names - in fact names of anything not on the Earth - it is the only source of star names recognized by astronomers worldwide - the IAU's Statement on Naming Stars).
NOTE: Do not write me to ask me how to contact star-naming companies! I am not going to promote or assist the star-naming "industry".

• IAU's Statement on Naming Stars
• Star Naming FAQ:
  • Original Site - (NOTE: the author of this site is having ISP problems right now, I'll update the link once he figures out where to put it - it sounds likely that it will end up on the Bad Astronomy website, so keep an eye out for it there)
  • Copy by Peter Enzerink (Canberra, Australia)
  • Copy by Drayton Woods Observatory (Detroit, MI)
• More links about "star buying"
• International Planetarium Society (IPS) statement on star naming
• Royal Observatory Greenwich statement on star naming
• Name a Star? The Truth about Buying Your Place in Heaven - article about star naming


• Bad Astronomy - find out about "bad" astronomy spread by the media (TV, movies, news, books, ...)

E-mail to stark @ astro.psu.edu