This has nothing to do with smoking, but I thought some of you might want to know about it and this is the folder for random stuff.

I get a lot of junk mail, as I assume most of you do as well. Today I got one from the International Star Registry. They're the company that claims they'll name a star after someone for a nominal fee. You get a nice certificate, a star chart, etc. for your $50 or so. Lots of people have done this.

The problem is that the only organization authorized to name stars or any other astronomical body is the International Astronomical Union. What you get for your $50 isn't recognized by anybody as official. It's not technically a scam, but you're not really getting a star named after anyone, either.

I'm pasting a link to a story about it because I assume most of you are already familiar with this company (and others who claim to name stars for your loved ones.) I seem to get emails from these types of companies around holidays like Mother's Day and that sort of thing. I almost paid to have a star named for someone years ago but just never got around to it.

If you were considering having a star named for someone, or you have friends who mention it sometime in the future, you might want to let them know.
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,49345,00.html

~Dan

You have done all astronomers - both amateur and professional - a great service by getting this word out. If you listen closely to their ads, they say the money buys a listing in a book "registered with the U.S. Copyright Office", which is a far cry from being officially recognized by the astronomical community. Maybe this is one scam we can stop.