# Can you pay $35 to get a star named after you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 1, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681 "2008-05-01T22:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ess\_tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f475e1/32.png) [@ess\_tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ess_tee)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/1 "2008-05-01T22:56:02Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_385.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_385.html) So… How Would one go about really getting a start named? ess\_tee ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/2 "2008-05-01T23:03:39Z")
Become extremely famous for having discovered a very unusual star. Even then, it would probably only be a nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/3 "2008-05-02T01:20:52Z")
[Here](http://www.ips-planetarium.org/pubs/starnaming.html) is some information about how stars receive their names. Basically, according to the official conventions you can’t name a star after a person. Newly discovered stars receive catalog designations of letters and numbers. There are a few stars, however, that are [named after people.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_named_after_people) These however are not the formal names used by astronomers. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/4 "2008-05-02T14:33:42Z")
[QUOTE=ess\_tee] [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_385.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_385.html) So… How Would one go about really getting a start named? ess\_tee [/QUOTE] I misread the intention here in my haste. I was quick to assume that someone would be on the board asking how to go about their own star-naming con. **Hypothetically speaking** , of course! (Legal issues for the board.) What **I** would love to know is how to go about my very legitimate goal of naming the PRIME NUMBERS after individual — ummmm – _donors to my cause_ (or after their loved ones). _ **HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING,** _ of course! * * * (Soon to be “The contributor formerly known as– True Blue Jack”) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/5 "2008-05-02T15:02:19Z")
[QUOTE=True Blue Jack] What **I** would love to know is how to go about my very legitimate goal of naming the PRIME NUMBERS after individual — ummmm – _donors to my cause_ (or after their loved ones). [/QUOTE] Can I have first go at having the first prime named after me? It would be so cool to have everyone required to count: One, Giles, three, four, … ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/6 "2008-05-02T15:12:40Z")
Do you really want to hear generations of schoolchildren say, “All primes are odd, except for Giles, who messes it up for everybody!” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/7 "2008-05-02T15:30:12Z")
If you want a star with your name on Hollywood Boulevard, I think it costs about $4,000. That, and you have to have appeared in film/TV or recorded a song. It could but the worst film/TV show ever, or the most forgotten song ever, but they still do it if you pony up the money. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/8 "2008-05-02T16:14:33Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] If you want a star with your name on Hollywood Boulevard, I think it costs about $4,000. That, and you have to have appeared in film/TV or recorded a song. It could but the worst film/TV show ever, or the most forgotten song ever, but they still do it if you pony up the money. [/QUOTE] If you’re talking about the Hollywood Walk of Fame, you have to be nominated and approved by the Hollywood Historic Trust for the honor, and then pay them a boatload of money to cover the cost of the ceremony. But according to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame), > [@Some Guy](#): > > Controversy and mystery surrounds the way the stars are nominated and approved Get Agent Mulder on it. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/9 "2008-05-02T18:56:54Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] If you’re talking about the Hollywood Walk of Fame, you have to be nominated and approved by the Hollywood Historic Trust for the honor, and then pay them a boatload of money to cover the cost of the ceremony. Get Agent Mulder on it. [/QUOTE] I guess the price has gone up. Still, they’ll nominate just about anybody who’ll pay. I don’t recognize over half of the names. ---
**Author:** ![ess\_tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f475e1/32.png) [@ess\_tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ess_tee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/10 "2008-05-02T23:06:59Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] Can I have first go at having the first prime named after me? It would be so cool to have everyone required to count: One, Giles, three, four, … [/QUOTE] Ok so what would be new pronounciation for Two hundred. Giles hundred? might be interesting if one got bought out by someone from those places where names are 20 consonants and one vowel. ---
**Author:** ![ess\_tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f475e1/32.png) [@ess\_tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ess_tee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/11 "2008-05-02T23:09:37Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] [Here](http://www.ips-planetarium.org/pubs/starnaming.html) is some information about how stars receive their names. Basically, according to the official conventions you can’t name a star after a person. Newly discovered stars receive catalog designations of letters and numbers. There are a few stars, however, that are [named after people.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_named_after_people) These however are not the formal names used by astronomers. [/QUOTE] Thank you for the answer. Darn … so much for immortality, guess I’ll just have to live forever then. ---
**Author:** ![ess\_tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f475e1/32.png) [@ess\_tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ess_tee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/12 "2008-05-02T23:09:49Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] [Here](http://www.ips-planetarium.org/pubs/starnaming.html) is some information about how stars receive their names. Basically, according to the official conventions you can’t name a star after a person. Newly discovered stars receive catalog designations of letters and numbers. There are a few stars, however, that are [named after people.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_named_after_people) These however are not the formal names used by astronomers. [/QUOTE] Thank you for the answer. Darn … so much for immortality, guess I’ll just have to live forever then. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/13 "2008-05-02T23:13:12Z")
[QUOTE=ess\_tee] Thank you for the answer. Darn … so much for immortality, guess I’ll just have to live forever then. [/QUOTE] Become an entomologist. They get bugs named after them all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/14 "2008-05-03T00:41:43Z")
Go to work at a nuclear physics laboratory. Smash up some really heavy, unstable isotope until for a few billionths of a second it forms some really, _really_ heavy, unstable isotope. Name the new isotope after yourself. ??? PROFIT! ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/15 "2008-05-03T12:08:05Z")
Comets are named after their discoverers and they’re usually discovered by amateurs. I still think immortality through not dying’s a better deal, though. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/16 "2008-05-03T18:41:56Z")
[QUOTE=coffeecat] Comets are named after their discoverers and they’re usually discovered by amateurs. I still think immortality through not dying’s a better deal, though. [/QUOTE] And almost as easy. Tea for Giles and Giles for tea, Dum dee dum dee dum dee dee… ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/17 "2008-05-03T21:18:56Z")
[QUOTE=coffeecat] Comets are named after their discoverers and they’re usually discovered by amateurs. I still think immortality through not dying’s a better deal, though. [/QUOTE] Well, given that comets aren’t immortal, yeah. A good short period comet won’t last you more than a thousand years at the most and a long period comet will probably never be identified by anyone again. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/18 "2008-05-03T22:33:41Z")
The price on having a star named after you has gone up from $25 to $35 in the last few years. I wonder what made the difference in price. The cost of transportation? When I was fourteen I laid claim to the middle star in Orion’s belt. I knew that it was a well known star, but I doubted that anyone had staked a claim. Too late if they were dead or if it was post-1957. I must remember to leave it in my will. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/19 "2008-05-03T23:22:36Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] The price on having a star named after you has gone up from $25 to $35 in the last few years. I wonder what made the difference in price. The cost of transportation? [/QUOTE] They discovered that no one was willing to go to the bother of prosecuting them for stealing in $25 increments, so they thought they’d aim higher. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681/20 "2008-05-04T00:32:37Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] Become an entomologist. They get bugs named after them all the time. [/QUOTE] Instead of binomial nomenclature? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you/447681.md?page=2)