Saturday, 26 May 2012

app to locate star by coordinates

There are apps which will help guide you to more significant stars (Google skymap comes to mind if you're looking for a simple mobile system - Stellarium may also be a good option), but it's highly unlikely that any app will include the location and names of so-called 'personal' stars, as the bodies who sell such things don't have any the authority to do so and are not generally recognized in the actual world of Astronomy.



Note that the IAU (International Astronomy Union) is the body generally recognized to have the responsibility of naming and classification of stars and other bodies. They also come out strongly against such practices and services:




As an international scientific organization, the IAU dissociates itself entirely from the commercial practice of "selling" fictitious star names or "real estate" on other planets or moons in the Solar System. Accordingly, the IAU maintains no list of the (several competing) enterprises in this business in individual countries of the world. Readers wanting to contact such enterprises despite the explanations given below should search commercial directories in their country of origin.




Link to IAU page on buying of star names

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