Buying/Naming a Star

[Crewman47]

A couple of days ago I heard that someone in my work had went and bought a Star, that's all I heard about and I wasn't sure what it actually meant so I looked it up earlier there and saw that you can pay or name a Star from as little as £25 (or $50).

Here's the thing I was just thinking of, what would happen if sometime within your lifetime we were able to develop FTL drives and be able to travel out as far as these Stars that are named and bought for, do we claim ownership of the system or would something else be done about it?

Also has anyone here bought a Star?

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Why would I buy a star? it's nothing more than just for show, it's as pointless as buying a piece of the moons surface. The so called official ownership certificate is worthless, I could print a better one off myself.

I'm going to start a website off called 'Buy a piece of the Atlantic Ocean'. I'll make Millions.

 

[Rarewolf]

You can buy a plot on the Moon. Mars too probably.

 

[Stevil2001]

http://home.carolina.rr.com/nirgal/buyastar.html

 

[Sisko_is_my_captain]

The whole "name a star" racket is a fantastic scam. The only 'official' star naming organization that actually means something is the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The 'name a star' folks don't officially name anything - they just publish a document which is copyrighted (like anything else someone writes) and say, "this star is X and is located at these coordinates; this star is Y and ...". Anyone could do that. The names aren't used by astronomers. Why someone would pay anyone $50, essentially just so the guy will say, "Alright, that star over yonder is named after you." is beyond me. It's a racket, it's deceptive to the layman who thinks he's buying something official, and in my opinion, it's a waste of money and a scam.

And nobody in the future is ever going to recognize any sort of 'ownership' of stars based on a 20th/21st century scam like that.

 

[Jadzia]

What does ownership mean?

Doesn't somebody have to own it before they can sell it? Else it belongs to whoever grabs it first? Unless there is a law forbidding you from laying claim on it.

But even then, ownership doesn't have universal leverage, since space doesn't have a government or embassy, so any protectorship law would be meaningless, The star doesn't belong to any territory in the first place, so ownership doesn't give you anything more than you already have.

What I'm saying is if you are American, and you have a legal claim on a star, with your own country's government. Well that doesn't mean anything to Russia. They could sell their own certificates of ownership for that same star. You only own it if your government is able and willing to defend your claim.

If we ever do sail the stars, then the star is just as much up for grabs then as it is now. It all comes down to whether it is defendable territory, for whoever has the greatest military/political presence at the time.

 

[JustAFriend]

Any moron can publish a 'book' putting names to anything.

Doesn't mean anything other than they cashed your check and took your money....

;-)

BTW: Would you like to have the Brooklyn Bridge renamed after you? Just send me a check...

 

[Candlelight]

I bought a star for my wife. She loved the idea.

Located in Canis Major, near his anus. Unfortunately.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I wonder if there is free reign over naming them; can I name them "Asshole", "Romulas" and such.

 

[Balthier the Great]

What does ownership mean?

Doesn't somebody have to own it before they can sell it? Else it belongs to whoever grabs it first? Unless there is a law forbidding you from laying claim on it.

But even then, ownership doesn't have universal leverage, since space doesn't have a government or embassy, so any protectorship law would be meaningless, The star doesn't belong to any territory in the first place, so ownership doesn't give you anything more than you already have.

What I'm saying is if you are American, and you have a legal claim on a star, with your own country's government. Well that doesn't mean anything to Russia. They could sell their own certificates of ownership for that same star. You only own it if your government is able and willing to defend your claim.

If we ever do sail the stars, then the star is just as much up for grabs then as it is now. It all comes down to whether it is defendable territory, for whoever has the greatest military/political presence at the time.

Well, that and i can imagine the reaction of any aliens living around "your star" who might get pissy when you claim to have the title to their planet. I mean really, it's like selling North America to wealthy Europeans and then discovering that people already lived there.

 

[iguana_tonante]

The whole "name a star" racket is a fantastic scam. The only 'official' star naming organization that actually means something is the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Yeah, as an astronomer, i can't stress it enough. It's just a scam. Don't fall for it. Don't.