Valentine's Day, Planet George, and why You Can't Name a Star for Your Sweetheart

William Herschel: it's his fault you can't name a star for your sweetie.
Today is Valentine's Day, the traditional day for people in love to celebrate each other's company with gifts like flowers, candy, and other things that have no place on a family-friendly website! In recent years, though, one new phenomenon has come about: pay some money and you can get a star named just for your special someone. While it may seem like a cosmically-cool way to say “I love you,” it is nothing more than a scam of astronomical proportions.

Why is this? It all started with the Planet George fiasco in 1781.

When it comes to naming heavenly bodies, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the only body who's opinion matters. In the past, naming things in space was a kind of Wild West if you will. At one time, any body or feature on a body was named by whoever discovered it. Usually, the names were respectable and most in the astronomical community went along with them. However, a turning point came in 1781 when British astronomer William Herschel discovered a planet beyond Saturn.

Being a patriotic Englishman, for Herschel, it was only natural to name the new planet after then-king George III. If Herschel was trying to gain the king's favor in hopes of financial assistance, it worked as George III became Herschel's patron after the discovery. Herschel's proposed name for the planet: Georgium Sidus (the Georgian star). However, for people of other nationalities, especially the French, a rival nation's king wasn't someone they wanted associated with the 7th planet in the solar system.. 

Not surprisingly, astronomers of other nations didn't adopt Herschel's king-honoring name, opting to call the planet 'Herschel' instead. In time, though, in keeping with tradition, the 7th planet was named Uranus, the Latinized version of the Greek sky god's name, Ouranos. Why Uranus? Simple. Saturn (6th planet) was the father of Jupiter (5th planet). So, in keeping with this father-son trend, it was only natural that the 7th planet should be named for the father of the 6th, which, by default, would be Ouranos (Uranus), who was the father of Saturn.

By 1850, Uranus was finally the universally (or at least Earth-wide) accepted as the name for the 7th planet (8th planet Neptune being discovered two years previously).

So, after the decades-long Planet George fiasco, the rules for naming things in space became more clearly defined and the international community decided as a whole that the names for bodies in the cosmos should not reflect national chauvinism on Earth. In time, these unwritten rules would evolve into the formal procedures of today where only the IAU, not late-night advertisers, can approve the name for any cosmic body.

In conclusion, next time you hear an ad where, for a fee, you can name a star after your special someone, don't only ignore the ad, but then warn your friends of such scams. As for the “certificate” you'll get in the mail, it isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

As a final message, here are some final Valentine's Day thoughts:
Box of chocolate: $10
A dozen roses: $30
Fancy dinner: $50
Not being an idiot by “naming” a star: priceless


For More Historical astronomy
The Planet of Bethlehem?
A History of Cosmology: Prehistory to Present
Galileo's Fingers Go on Display.
Renaissance Astronomy: Part 1
Renaissance Astronomy: Part 2
Renaissance Astronomy: Part 3
The Equinox and a Magic Show from the Maya
Ancient America: the Moundbuilders
Ancient America: the Southwest
Ancient Egypt
Classical Greece
The Summer Solstice Sun and the Size of the Earth
The 1833 Leonids: History's Greatest Meteor Storm
The 10 Brightest Comets of All Time
Ben Franklin and the Truth About Daylight Savings Time



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