Is the star register real?
Last updated 3 October 2026
A star register is a real database, privately kept by the company that sells the naming. It is not a scientific catalogue and it carries no weight with astronomers. What makes one register better than another is whether you can check your entry afterwards, whether the same star can be sold twice, and whether the record will still exist in ten years.
What a register is, and is not
Every star naming company keeps its own list of the names it has sold. Ours is The Star Naming Co. Register. Those lists are genuine records — the star is real, the coordinates are real, the entry exists — but they are private to each company. The International Astronomical Union keeps the designations astronomers actually use, it names very few objects, and it sells nothing. The two things share a word and nothing else.
How to check an entry is really there
Ask to see it. A register you can search by registry number, from any device, without logging in, is a register. One that exists only as a line on your own certificate is a printout. Ours is checkable at any time by registry number, and each entry shows the star, its catalogue reference and the dedication — which is also how you would prove the gift is genuine years later.
Can the same star be sold twice?
In principle, yes, and this is the question worth asking every company. Nothing physically stops two registries — or the same registry — selling the same star to different people, because no central authority coordinates any of it. Our answer is that a star is dedicated once, marked in the register, and never offered again. Ask others how they prevent it; the answer, or the absence of one, tells you most of what you need.
What happens to the record in ten years
The honest answer from any small company is that it depends on the company surviving, and anyone promising more than that is promising something they cannot control. We intend to keep the register running indefinitely, you can reprint at home, free, for life, and if we ever stopped trading we would publish a final archive so the entries remain readable. That is a commitment rather than a guarantee, and we would rather phrase it accurately.
Common questions
Is a star register a real thing?
Yes — it is a real database kept privately by the company selling the naming, holding the star, its coordinates and the name you chose. It is not a scientific catalogue and astronomers do not use it. Both things are true at once, and a company that only tells you the first half is not being straight with you.
Can I look up my star to prove it exists?
With us, yes: any entry can be checked at any time by its registry number, and the entry shows the star's catalogue reference, coordinates and dedication. Before buying from anyone, check whether their register is publicly searchable or whether it exists only on the certificate they send you.
Is the star register recognised by astronomers?
No. No commercial star register is. Only the International Astronomical Union assigns designations used in science, and it does not sell naming rights. A star naming is a symbolic gift, which is worth saying plainly rather than leaving in a terms page.
What stops the same star being sold to two people?
In our register, the star is marked as dedicated the moment it is allocated and is never offered again. Across the industry as a whole, nothing coordinates between companies — so it is a fair question to put to any seller, and the quality of the answer tells you a lot.
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