We’ve survived Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Now, as we continue full throttle into the holiday gift-buying season, the advertisements to buy a star for loved ones are ramping up.

Not to put a damper on your holiday cheer, but you can’t really buy stars. Let’s be clear: registering or purchasing a star is nothing more than a novelty gift. It isn’t real.

“Some commercial enterprises purport to offer such services for a fee,” according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Cambridge, Mass., the only authentic body that can name celestial objects. Commercial so-called star-naming registries have no formal or official validity, says the IAU.

When you venture onto the web, you can easily find a half dozen companies that for your $54 or $19.95 or $14.95, you may get a printed certificate – framed or unframed – with the star named for your loved one or you could receive a printable, instant certificate via email. Some packages include wallet-size certificates, too.

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The International Star Registry has been “selling stars” for a long time. In 1998, New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs issued a violation against the International Star Registry, an Illinois company, for engaging in a deceptive trade practice – facing fines of $3,500 or more according to the agency’s press release. The city’s then-consumer affairs commissioner Jules Polonetsky said that paying to name stars after loved ones is “simply throwing money into a black hole.”

“Star-naming companies fool consumers into thinking that they can ‘become’ a star by attaching their name to one,” Polonetsky said, “but in reality, the star names are nothing more than a listing in the company’s own book.”

Professional and amateur astronomers – those who study the authentic cosmos – might be surprised to learn that the Better Business Bureau (Chicago and Northern Illinois) recently gave the International Star Registry an “A+” rating. Though the company does admit: “This listing is not, nor is it intended to be … recognized by the scientific community, but it is protected by copyright law.”

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In the holiday film It’s a Wonderful Life, it didn’t cost Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey $54, plus shipping and handling, to lasso the moon for Donna Reed’s Mary Hatch. Bailey roped our lunar neighbor for free – and you can too. If you want to give starry gift to a loved one or friend, simply get creative and make your own poster or certificate or perhaps invent your own proclamation claiming a star.  Yours has all the validity as any star registry, and it will be likely more precious.

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