The International Star Registry (ISR), founded in 1979, is a company which sells products related to entries in the Your Place in the Cosmos book published by the company every 2 – 3 years. As of 2009, the company has produced 8 volumes of the book which includes customers from August 2004 through July 2007.[1]
The company was founded by Ivor Downie in Toronto in 1979. Downie sold the company to Phylis Mosele. It moved its headquarters to Ingleside, Illinois where it grew dramatically through heavy advertising—particularly on the radio.[2]
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Products and services are often marketed as gifts or memorials. Packages sold by the company include framed and unframed certificates, personalized jewelry, plush toys, and pet rocks identifying "naming" of a star as described in the book.[3] Naming services are limited to an entry in the book and carries no scientific or official authenticity according to professional astronomers as well as the company's list of frequently asked questions.[2][4][5][6][7]
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the internationally recognized authority which designates stars, planets, asteroids, comets, and other heavenly bodies according to internationally accepted rules. The IAU does not sell naming rights nor does it authorize any other company or organization to do so. The IAU cautions consumers that products and services marketed by ISR and other companies have no formal or official validity whatsoever. In fact with a few exceptions of ancient or Arabic names, nearly all stars are designated by catalog numbers rather than names.[8]
The IAU has called the ISR's star-naming business far from dangerous "charlatanry" and their products and marketing have been criticised for "seem[ing] official."[9][10] The company clarifies the products it sells on its frequently asked questions page stating:
Astronomers will not recognize your name because your name is published only in our Star catalog.[4]
ISR also sells Your Place in the Cosmos, the catalog listing customer purchases (now in the 8th volume.)[11]
The ISR has been criticized for their lack of astronomical knowledge. Their FAQ incorrectly states that "Only 2873 stars are visible to the naked eye"[12] (while over a million have been sold).[5] In reality the number of visible stars is closer to 10,000, depending on sky conditions. Astronomer Phil Plait suggested this may be a case of using an overly precise figure to make the ISR seem more scientific than they actually are.[6] At one time, the FAQ also responded to the question "What happens if my star falls out of the sky?" with "[we would] name a new star for that person at our expense", without explanation that "shooting stars" are actually meteoroids which are quite different from stars which do not "fall".[6]
The company defends their products and services saying that they make no explicit claims about the official nature of the service and the practice breaks no laws. Vice president of marketing and advertising, Rocky Mosele, has stated that that customers accept the 'unofficial' nature of the star naming.[13] Astronomy columnist Tammy Plotner wrote of some redeeming educational value saying that it can "motivate someone into taking a deeper look at what’s above them".[14]
The ISR threatened Perkins Observatory at Ohio Wesleyan University with legal action when assistant director Robert Martino put up a website criticizing star-naming companies, despite it being factually correct.[6] Even after Martino removed any direct reference to ISR, he was warned that he should not talk about star-naming at all. Eventually Martino was forced to host his criticisms privately and on newsgroups.[7]