Celestron and Int Star Registry

"Entrants are also encouraged to nominate their favorite "celebrity" to have
a star named after them through a partnership with International Star
Registry. Following the contest, Celestron will announce the people's choice
for the celebrity star naming and the Star Registry will make the new name
official."

http://www.celestron.com/c2/news_view.php?NewsID=34

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:47:45 +0100, "Les"
wrote:

"Entrants are also encouraged to nominate their favorite "celebrity" to have
a star named after them through a partnership with International Star
Registry. Following the contest, Celestron will announce the people's choice
for the celebrity star naming and the Star Registry will make the new name
official."

http://www.celestron.com/c2/news_view.php?NewsID=34

That's revolting- right up there with them awarding a free horoscope
casting! I sent a reply to their PR contact at
http://www.celestron.com/c2/contact_pr.php that I will never consider
another Celestron product unless this promotion is ended immediately.
What an embarrassment!

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:47:45 +0100, "Les"
wrote:

"Entrants are also encouraged to nominate their favorite "celebrity" to have
a star named after them through a partnership with International Star
Registry. Following the contest, Celestron will announce the people's choice
for the celebrity star naming and the Star Registry will make the new name
official."

http://www.celestron.com/c2/news_view.php?NewsID=34

That's revolting- right up there with them awarding a free horoscope
casting! I sent a reply to their PR contact at
http://www.celestron.com/c2/contact_pr.php that I will never consider
another Celestron product unless this promotion is ended immediately.
What an embarrassment!

I think you are being ridiculous to the point of silliness. This does
no harm to anyone. It's not like they are supporting Nazis. It's just
a little fun for their promotion. While I don't myself see the point in
contests that revolve around celebrities (particularly those who are
merely actors--there are a lot more important and interesting
occupations) it's just a promotion. Get over yourself already.

As I've said before, I think astronomers who get all upset about the ISM
are really just "protecting their turf" in a most irrational and vulgar
way. The ISM provides a service that many non-astronomers enjoy and the
really funny part is that they and their customers understand exactly
what that service is: a symbolic gesture, nothing more, like buying a
greeting card. It's only the irate astronomers (or physicists
pretending to be astronomers like you) who don't get it!

As far as I'm concerned, anything that arouses peoples interest in the
sky is a good thing, and for a lot of the people who buy these stars, it
marks the beginning of a journey toward learning about the Universe
around them. At least until some narrow minded astronomer sends them
packing with his holier-than-thou pronouncements about the star they bought!

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
Comets: http://comets.skyhound.com

To reply take out your eye

Greg,

No it doesn't harm?

It just more anti-intellectualism and that doesn't harm anyone anyway?

Your "does not harm" got us into Iraq, killed thousands of innocent
Iraqi citizens and Americans not to mention bankrupting our nation
to the tune of $12 Billion per month etc., etc., etc.

Sorry Mr. Crinklaw but your idea of does no harm has hurt us far
worse.

"P. Edward Murray" wrote:

Greg,

No it doesn't harm?

It just more anti-intellectualism and that doesn't harm anyone anyway?

Your "does not harm" got us into Iraq, killed thousands of innocent
Iraqi citizens and Americans not to mention bankrupting our nation
to the tune of $12 Billion per month etc., etc., etc.

Sorry Mr. Crinklaw but your idea of does no harm has hurt us far
worse.


Yes, exactly! That's what Greg was describing with, "...I think
astronomers who get all upset about the ISM are really just
"protecting their turf" in a most irrational and vulgar way."

Crimminy... the ISM is a pantload, but they are hardly resonsible for
deaths and bankruptcies.

It's such a serious world...
=============
- Dale Gombert (SkySea at aol.com)
122.38W, 47.58N, W. Seattle, WA

On Jul 28, 8:59 am, Greg Crinklaw
wrote:
Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:47:45 +0100, "Les"
wrote:

"Entrants are also encouraged to nominate their favorite "celebrity" to have
a star named after them through a partnership with International Star
Registry. Following the contest, Celestron will announce the people's choice
for the celebrity star naming and the Star Registry will make the new name
official."

http://www.celestron.com/c2/news_view.php?NewsID=34

That's revolting- right up there with them awarding a free horoscope
casting! I sent a reply to their PR contact at
http://www.celestron.com/c2/contact_pr.phpthat I will never consider
another Celestron product unless this promotion is ended immediately.
What an embarrassment!

I think you are being ridiculous to the point of silliness. This does
no harm to anyone. It's not like they are supporting Nazis. It's just
a little fun for their promotion. While I don't myself see the point in
contests that revolve around celebrities (particularly those who are
merely actors--there are a lot more important and interesting
occupations) it's just a promotion. Get over yourself already.

As I've said before, I think astronomers who get all upset about the ISM
are really just "protecting their turf" in a most irrational and vulgar
way. The ISM provides a service that many non-astronomers enjoy and the
really funny part is that they and their customers understand exactly
what that service is: a symbolic gesture, nothing more, like buying a
greeting card. It's only the irate astronomers (or physicists
pretending to be astronomers like you) who don't get it!
[...]

Oh? ICR's fraud seems actionable to me. As Doc Clay wrote in the
Meade-Uncensored Yahoo group Friday in article:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Meade-Uncensored/message/12952

copy'n'pasted below:

" Curiously I have been asked hundreds of time to provide information
" ("real" information) on "stars" assigned by the Star Registry. Using
" every epoch (25 year intervals) from 1875 to 2025, on nearly all
" requests on "purchased stars" with specific RA and DEC
" designations, I could find NO star in the positions assigned fitting
" the criteria as outline in the spec sheet.
"
" I cannot believe that this outfit is still out there selling stars
" ... not even real ones.
"
" Dr. Clay
" -------------
" Arkansas Sky Observatories
" Harvard MPC/ H43 (Conway)
" Harvard MPC/ H41 (Petit Jean Mountain)
" Harvard MPC/ H45 (Petit Jean Mtn. South)
" http://www.arksky.org/

wrote:
Oh? ICR's fraud seems actionable to me. As Doc Clay wrote in the
Meade-Uncensored Yahoo group Friday in article:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Meade-Uncensored/message/12952

If that's true then it is fraudulent. I've heard the accusation that
they no longer sell real stars before. But I've also heard many other
accusations and none of them turned out to be true...

If you feel there is a case of fraud then why not buy a star and then
contact the district attorney's office if it turns out to not be real?
Or get together people who have purchased fake stars and start a class
action lawsuit?

Given how irrational people get about this practice in general, I
wouldn't be surprised at all if the accusations are false, greatly
exaggerated, or falsely attributed to the ISR (there are a number of
known real scams out there operating under different names, I note your
message refers to the ICR...)

The real shame in this is that if people would get off their high horses
this could be a huge boon to planetaria everywhere. Imagine if they all
got together, created their own registry, and sold stars to support
their efforts and to popularize astronomy.

The irony here is as thick as some peoples skulls! ;-)

Clear skies,
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
Comets: http://comets.skyhound.com

To reply take out your eye

On Jul 28, 11:08 am, Greg Crinklaw
wrote:
wrote:
Oh? ICR's fraud seems actionable to me. As Doc Clay wrote in the
Meade-Uncensored Yahoo group Friday in article:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Meade-Uncensored/message/12952

If that's true then it is fraudulent. I've heard the accusation that
they no longer sell real stars before. But I've also heard many other
accusations and none of them turned out to be true...

If you feel there is a case of fraud then why not buy a star and then
contact the district attorney's office if it turns out to not be real?
Or get together people who have purchased fake stars and start a class
action lawsuit?

Given how irrational people get about this practice in general, I
wouldn't be surprised at all if the accusations are false, greatly
exaggerated, or falsely attributed to the ISR (there are a number of
known real scams out there operating under different names, I note your
message refers to the ICR...)
[...]

Oops; thanks. That was a typo (I had just used "ICR" in another post
and
meant to enter "ISR" above).

Red-faced. :-)

"selling stars", Greg Crinklaw posted:

This does no harm to anyone.

Oh really? How about the people who come to our observatory and want to
see the star which they "bought" to honor a lost loved one and which
also happens to be *permanently below the horizon* from where we are?
How about the ones who come to us with positions or charts that are so
bad that it is nearly impossible to determine with certainty which star
is "theirs"? How about those who come and find out that what they spend
their $54 to $139 for is just a piece of paper with no formal
recognition (despite what the FAQ says)? How about the telescope
operator who has to tell the person that they can't pull the scope off
of one of the assigned targets for viewing at public nights to go search
for "their" star? Yup, no harm, except to those who have to deal with
the consequences sometimes.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 14th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 15th-20th, 2007, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

David Knisely wrote:
"selling stars", Greg Crinklaw posted:

This does no harm to anyone.

Oh really? How about the people who come to our observatory and want to
see the star which they "bought" to honor a lost loved one and which
also happens to be *permanently below the horizon* from where we are?
How about the ones who come to us with positions or charts that are so
bad that it is nearly impossible to determine with certainty which star
is "theirs"? How about those who come and find out that what they spend
their $54 to $139 for is just a piece of paper with no formal
recognition (despite what the FAQ says)? How about the telescope
operator who has to tell the person that they can't pull the scope off
of one of the assigned targets for viewing at public nights to go search
for "their" star? Yup, no harm, except to those who have to deal with
the consequences sometimes.

Sorry -- I still don't see the harm. Your logic is entirely circular.
Basically you are saying that it harms you because you have to deal with
it. But the only reason you see it as trouble, rather than the
opportunity it represents by bringing people to your public nights, is
because you hate the whole idea in the first place. Had it not occurred
to you that these people would otherwise not be there at all?

I'll bet you are one of those people who gets all dark and annoyed when
someone brings you one of theses stars, barely able to hide your
disdain. What a wasted opportunity! If so, then I submit that it is
*you* who is actually causing the harm. I sure hope not...

And why not show them their star? You guys really ought to be ashamed
of yourselves if that's how you treat people at your public nights!

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
Comets: http://comets.skyhound.com

To reply take out your eye