A Short Intro On Naming A Star For Starters
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
In the old times people spent a lot more time looking at the sky and searching for the answer to their various problems and preoccupations among the stars. Almost any culture abounds in myths, legends and stories about stars. Back then, symbolism, light intensity and even religious considerations made people name a star in a certain way. Nowadays, official astrological institutions only name bigger stars, while the smaller ones are simply cataloged by numbers. Comets and asteroids receive names too, but everything tends to be well organized and structured so as to allow a quick and efficient identification on the sky map.
Many people choose to name a star as a love proof or a special gift for a dear person; nevertheless the stars thus named are already classified in Astrophysical Observatory Catalogs. Companies that intermediate name a star services should be listed with a copyright office to be recognized as institutions ; yet, keep in mind the fact that even if you name a star, it is not official, but personal and highly sentimental. Although commonly used by non-astronomers, this type of service still requires the use of the official coordinates for a specific celestial body in order to pass a certificate.
The scientific references taken as background for star identification and popular naming include the Smithsonian catalog, the Hubble Space Telescope catalog and the Messier catalog. The star naming company has to specify the resource used so as to allow for a distinction both between the stars and between the other companies with the same range of activity. If you name a star you simply give it a different meaning personal and subjective in nature, but you definitely do not generate a scientific designation. You may be allowed to take a pick at the constellation you want to name a star from, and many service providers have created fill-in forms with this option included.
The basis on which the star choice is made includes brightness and closeness to our planet; the higher the proximity, the more visible the star. Therefore, The best choice is a star with a magnitude below ten so that you may be able to see it with a good telescope if not with a naked eye or a pair of binoculars. People living in areas with high levels of pollution will have difficulties in spotting their star, and only cold winter days with little dust in the atmosphere could make observation possible. One thing that you should know is the fact that individual star selection is not possible, you only have freedom as far as the choice of the constellation.
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