FAQ

First names and full names are very popular choices and are always suitable, but we also welcome inspired creativity! The one limit we have is a maximum of 35 characters, including punctuation and spaces.

Once we have named a star for you and entered the information into our online database, we will prepare the star package which will be mailed out to you, complete with your certificate and sky chart. We will also send you an email with a link so that you may see the star on the web. We will then publish, in the next volume of our compendium Your Place in the Cosmos, the star’s name and telescopic coordinates.

Orders leave within two business days of us receiving them. Depending on the destination and the delivery option that you have chosen, it would take a further two (2) to six (6) days.

Canada Post will send you a tracking number for your parcel as soon as we are ready to ship it out, so you will be able to follow its progress as it makes its way to its destination.

Also, please note that on the same day that we mail your star package out, we will send you a PDF file containing a smaller version of the documents.  This file can be printed on regular letter-sized paper, or shared electronically if that is suitable.  For last-minute purchases, these PDF files have saved the day many times over the years!

Since the internet came into being, a number of outfits have sprung up, trying to copy what we do (we call them the “copycats”). Many of them have disappeared after a year or two. We often receive calls from their clients who share their frustrations. They are even more disappointed to find out that these copycats name the same stars over and over again, and avoid publishing the star names and coordinates – people would quickly understand what they are up to.

We at International Star Registry have been in business for over 40 years, and are committed to compiling and maintaining our star catalogue in the same way that we have always done – and this is why close to three million stargazers trust us, and keep coming back.

Customers of International Star Registry include people like you and us, but also members of royal families, actors, journalists and thousands of personalities from all walks of life. Corporate customers include the BBC, Sony, Disney, IBM, Warner Records and the Ford Motor Company among many. Our distinctive certificates have graced official residences from the White House to Downing Street, and have appeared in countless TV shows throughout the world, from Oprah Winfrey and Ellen through to Coronation Street, Friends and The West Wing – and in the opening credits of Cheers!

Yes, you will be able to see the star that we have named through the services of the Worldwide Telescope (WWT). We will send you an email which will include a PDF version of your certificate and sky chart, as well as a link that will allow you to connect directly to the WWT.

Only 9000 stars are visible to the naked eye from our planet, and some of these already have scientific or historic names. Since we have named almost three million stars over the past 40 years, it is not possible to see the stars that we name nowadays with a hobbyist’s telescope.

Each star is only named once, and then it is immediately removed from the list of stars available to be registered. We work with NASA’s Hubble Guide Star Catalog, which contains almost 20 million distinct stars. Since International Star Registry was created in 1979, we have named almost three million stars – and we would thus have no reason to rename stars that we have already named, since there are 17 million left to be registered.

However, we do know that in order to simplify their operations, the copycats keep naming the same 5000 stars over and over (see the “Other Companies” FAQ above).

We add the date on which the star name becomes official to the certificate of registration, as a further way of personalizing your gift if you are naming a star for a special event.

No. In professional astronomical and scientific circles, the star that you name will be referred to either by telescope co-ordinates or by identity number, both of which will appear on the sky chart that we will prepare for you. Naming a star is considered as a symbolic rather than scientific gesture.

It is not possible to buy a star. The stars named through International Star Registry are not “owned”, nor is their scientific identification altered. International Star Registry enables individuals to name an actual star for a person most appreciated by them.

This astronomical listing is not scientific, but symbolic, and the stars are recorded alphabetically rather than by their size and location. The advantages of registering stars in this manner are of both personal and historical significance. Because the stars are listed according to the names assigned to each, centuries from now our descendants will be able to locate the names in the “Your Place in the Cosmos” series of hard cover astronomy books, look up the name and find the star in the night sky. And that is an amazing concept, isn’t it?

Our database works a little like a telephone book (remember those), where you might have a number of people listed who have the same name. You would be able to differentiate them by address and by telephone number. Similarly, you might have any number of stars named “Judy”. When looking up the star named for your “Judy” in the relevant volume of “Your Place in the Cosmos”, you would seek the constellation and coordinates of the star named for that particular “Judy” (eg. Judy, Leo, RA 11h 38m D 28° 28’20”). This would be a unique set of information, and different from any other.

Yes – we often name stars for couples, families or even groups of people. Our only limit: the name cannot be longer than 35 characters (including letters, numbers and spaces between words).

Yes, if we are talking about being optically close as seen from the earth. The real distance could be light years apart. We keep records of all of the star positions named through our office, and in most cases, we can name another star or stars in close proximity to the first one that was named, according to the coordinates and position on the map.

Some of the companies that we call « the copycats » offer to name bright stars or binary star systems, because they keep naming the same stars over and over again. We are proud to say that we will never do that. Each star is as unique as the person for whom you are naming it.

We publish a new volume of our catalog, known as Your Place in the Cosmos, approximately once every four years, and each volume presents the names of stars named within that four year period. If you wish to purchase a copy of the book that will list the name of the star that we will have named for you, let us know and we will contact you as soon as the book gets published, or visit our website to see when the book is scheduled to come out. Copies of each of our volumes are filed in International Star Registry’s vaults in Switzerland, and are also available through the US Library of Congress.

Know ye herewith that the International Star Registry doth hereby redesignate star number (star coordinates) to the name (name given to the star). Know ye further that this star will henceforth be known by this name. This name is permanently filed in the Registry’s vault in Switzerland and recorded in a book which will be registered in the copyright office of the United States of America.

In witness whereof we hereunto set our hands and affix the seal of the International Star Registry this (date).

P. McAdams, Secretary
E. Stolpe, Registrar