Well you could also "buy" a star
There are now LOTS of companies that offer to give a star in the sky the name of your choosing – for a price, of course. Google “Name a star” or “star naming” and you’ll find that there are a gazillion of them online, and you can even buy “gift packs” from Argos, Boots and other shops. If you don’t know how they work, basically for your money you get to name the star, a certificate, a chart showing the location of your star and – well, that’s it basically. The impression they give, these companies, is that you then exclusively “own” the star, and that it will be known by that name forever.
This is, of course, not correct.
Why? Listen very carefully, I shall say zees only once.
If you “buy a star”, the only place, the
only place the star will bear your chosen name is in that company’s register, or on its database. No astronomers will
ever refer to it by that name. No astronomy magazine’s star charts will
ever give it that name. No observatory anywhere in the world will
ever recognise or use that name.
I should make it absolutely clear here that it’s not illegal, or a “con” in the legal sense of the word. The companies themselves actually admit that it’s not “official”. If you take a look at the FAQ on the website of one of the most popular star naming companies you’ll see they’re quite open about it: (
Buy & Name a Star As A Gift | International Star Registry ) But the general marketing of the product does give the impression that for your £15 or £20 or whatever you’re paying, you are naming a star in the sky and that star will bear that name for ever, and future generations will call it by that name, thus immortalising your son/daughter/dog/goldfish. That’s just not true.
Two things NOT to buy for Christmas...
But that don't make it your's