What are star directories and what is their purpose? And how can you actually benefit from using a star direcotry? We’ll answer those questions in this blog post.
What are star directories?
A star directory is a place either online or offline where star data is stored. This data is in most cases just numbers and coordinates of stars. The layman can’t really do anything with it and not really understand what the numbers are.
In most cases though, there will be data like RA/Dec in the directory which shows you the location of the star in the night sky.
How can you benefit from using a star direcotry?
There are many different star directories out their, for example like the ISD Star Registry. But their goal is one and the same: They want to give every star a name so that people can actually use them and have their own stars.
But how do you do that? Most star directories which you can find online are private organizations which allow you to name a star and register it with their directory.
You can use a service like ours, at Interstellarium.com to name a star.
Why do people name stars?
In most cases – or almost in every case – a star is named for loved ones. Many people give a star a name because they receive a star gift certificate which then can be given to their loved ones.
These so called star-naming gifts are very popular for occasions like Valentine’s Day or Christmas.
Conclusion
Star directories have a purpose and you can buy & register a star name with one of those many directories.