Here you go, Patrick, thanks for the note. This was posted on the AOL start page: By AMY C. FLEITAS November 30, 2004 Ah, the holidays: a time of goodwill toward your fellow man -- for some people. For others, it's an opportunity to grab all they can and run while people's defenses are down. While you are looking for the perfect gifts, con artists will be looking for the perfect target. This holiday season, don't get taken by these popular scams. 1. Naming a star What better gift could you give someone then the symbol of the first Christmas -- a star? Various companies claim they can sell you a star -- for a fee. This year one company is charging $54. These companies will send you a certificate with the name and location of "your star" and promise that your star's name will be in a star registry. Here's the problem: Stars are named by the International Astronomical Union -- and they aren't selling. Names for stars (and most are given numbers) are assigned according to the internationally accepted rules of the IAU. Anyone else who claims to be able to name stars has no more legal standing than your neighbor's Rottweiler. When they say your star is going into a "registry," they mean whatever registry they made up -- not the official catalog that is kept by the IAU and used by all astronomers. According to the IAU's Web site, "such 'names' have no formal or official validity whatever. Like true love and many other of the best things in human life, the beauty of the night sky is not for sale, but is free for all to enjoy." If you want to give someone a star, save yourself some money: Go to the closest planetarium, pick a star you think is pretty and ask the astronomer for the coordinates. Then go home and make your own certificate on your own computer.
Care to cut and paste the entire article?
Patrick
Chuck Hards wrote:
Kudos to the editors and owners of this:
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