Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star...

[Twin2]

Here's another frame that I completed before Christmas. The customer had a star named for her 15 month old niece and wanted the certificate and map framed, along with a poem for her niece (her rendition of twinkle, twinkle, little star).

The customer didn't mind covering part of the star map, so the poem was floated above the map in the bottom right hand corner. The poem was 'framed' with a gold Fotiou fillet and I used gold paint on the core of the mat as well as the niece's name and the stars. I tried to mimic the style of the lettering in the certificate for the niece's name. The hand-painting was an after-thought to the design. I ran the idea by my customer and she loved it.

Michelangelo's M69-24 moulding, Bainbridge's 8181V (matte black) and 8451 (mulberry) mats, and Tru Vue's conservation clear glass were used.

 

[danny boy]

Very nice work.

 

[FramerDave]

Great framing, and I'm glad you got the job and that they got a nice gift for their niece. It's a shame that it's a total scam.

...The New York Office of Consumer Affairs certainly felt this way. It levied an injunction against the ISR for using deceptive advertising in New York City, and the ISR was found guilty on multiple counts, with fines up to $3,500 (a tiny fraction, of course, of the company’s income). The Federal Trade Commission weighed in, forbidding the ISR from using the Library of Congress in its ads too. This small road block hasn’t even slowed down the ISR. It still advertises, mostly around Christmas (though the ads no longer mention the Library of Congress)...

...Imagine being an astronomer during an observatory’s public night, happily showing people the wonders of the universe through the telescope, then having someone ask you to see the star they named after their daughter who died tragically. They only have the name they gave it, not the position or any other name that might be useful. Worse, they really, honestly think that every astronomer has access to the ISR and can easily find their star. Having run many a public night myself, I can only imagine how horrible I would feel. In such cases, what do you do, tell the people they were lied to, or deceived, crushing them? Or do you keep quiet, spare their raw feelings, and perpetuate the lie by showing them some random star?

Many astronomers don’t have to imagine this. It’s happened to them...

 

[Framar]

Oh Jeez, David - who peed in your Cheerios? You know I happen to own a square inch of someplace (out west or maybe the Moon), have the deed around here someplace. I know I do - had it since I was a kid. It's a joke!

I don't think anyone is dumb enough to think it is a real star naming. One has to be an astronomer who finds a star for the first time to have it named for them. These are just stars for wishing.

Great framing, BTW.

 

[FramerDave]

Oh Jeez, David - who peed in your Cheerios? You know I happen to own a square inch of someplace (out west or maybe the Moon), have the deed around here someplace. I know I do - had it since I was a kid. It's a joke!

I don't think anyone is dumb enough to think it is a real star naming. One has to be an astronomer who finds a star for the first time to have it named for them. These are just stars for wishing.

Great framing, BTW.

Didn't read the link, huh?

 

[more_so]

I'm pretty sure a lot of people believe those names are "official."

Back when I was technically retired I occasionally operated a telescope for public viewing. Pretty often somebody would show up with a chart or some coordinates showing where "my kid's star" was located. I usually just kept my mouth shut and pointed the scope, or gently segued the conversation to talking about "pretend" star names. Those were mostly dimmer stars around 4th magnitude, not bright enough to see with your eyes from the city, and with names that were either technical or too obscure to be recognized.

But one family showed up with a sort of "deed" to one of the stars in the Big Dipper. The star known since ancient times as Mizar had been re-named to "Suzy Smith." That was definitely the Brooklyn Bridge of star sales. I wonder how much they got ripped for. Not only was "Suzy Smith" a nice bright 2nd magnitude star, but also a quadruple system of two double stars! Now that's worth something.

 

[Twin2]

Well, that is certainly an interesting article, Dave. I honestly had no idea and I'm not sure my customer did either. Perhaps she did, in the back of her mind, but just wanted a 'star' gift to give her niece who loves stars.

 

[Ylva]

I like the framing.

I never even knew about the whole star naming so I did read (most of) the article.

Is there anything on that certificate to indicate what people are buying? I would take it as a 'joke' but people usually believe stuff like this so might think that a star is now officially named after their loved one.

 

[FramerDave]

I like the framing.

I never even knew about the whole star naming so I did read (most of) the article.

Is there anything on that certificate to indicate what people are buying? I would take it as a 'joke' but people usually believe stuff like this so might think that a star is now officially named after their loved one.

It depends on the company selling the names. Some of them still make it sounds official and legit, others state ouright that it's a novelty item, others hide it in the fine print. Regardless, none are "official" and no astronomer in the world will recognize the name.

And to correct an earlier post, astronomers who "discover" stars do not get naming rights.

 

[Ylva]

I almost fell for one of the sales pitches, this one having to do with education and my 14 year old son and his good grades.....
Didn't trust it, asked for some help and found out a lot more about it. But then, I have a very suspicious mind.

 

[Jeff Rodier]

Been framing these for 30 years and they state they will place the name in their registry. This is no different than being listed in Who's Who. Anyone can be listed by Who's Who by simply having someone reccomend them. Then you pay a small fee and if you want to see your listing you must buy the book which I believe is $700-$800.

The primary difference is that those impressive enough to get a listing in Who's Who are most likely smart enough to catch the scam but their egos get the best of them. My mother is listed in Who's Who because her employee placed the listing and bought her the book as a gift.

The Star Registry was able to use the Library of Congress because they sent a copy to be archived in their Copyright office. These things are cute but like anything else it's Caveat Emptor (buyer beware). Just think of how many people signed mortgage documents for loans they could never pay and then complained they didn't read them even though they also signed an affidavit that all information was true and accurate. The Star Registry complaint holds no more merit than buying an "As Seen on TV" product that was not the miracle gadget they made it out to be.