Top Ten Star Messages

Each Name A Star Live Gift Set includes a letter-size star certificate that displays the name of the star, astronomical information about the star, and an area where you can include a breif personal message for your gift recipient.

Here are some notable messages our customers wrote in September:

  1. You are the sweetest, cutest thing in the universe.
  2. A girl with your beauty needs to have a place in this world forever.  Inside and out you’re beautiful.  I love you.
  3. May your life always shine as brightly as your star.  Happy 50th!
  4. You truly are the best guy for me. I know that you could not love me any better. You always surprise me with how sweet you are and I am so lucky to have someone like that in my life.
  5. Know that wherever you go, wherever you are,  Daddy’s Guiding Light will be there to lead you.
  6. These stars symbolize our everlasting love. They will be together forever and always, and just like our love; never faltering, and always true.
  7. We’ve named a star for your Mother.  “Perhaps they are not stars in the sky,  but rather openings where our loved ones   shine down to let us know they are happy.”
  8. To my niece on her baptism, I love you til all the stars burn out!
  9. Now even when we are apart I can look to the stars and be with you. May it shine just like its namesake.
  10. “It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.”  – W.T. Ellis

Be sure to check out our Twitter and Facebook pages where we’ll keep you up-to-date on all things Name A Star Live!

twitter_facebook

October 2009 Constellations

Want to see where your star is in the night sky?

Stars are located within constellations, which are just areas of the night sky.  Scorpius, Aries and Taurus are examples of constellations.  Your Name A Star Live Star Certificate displays the name of your constellation.

You can use the World Constellation Map below to determine if you can see your constellation during the evening hours (between sunset and midnight) in October. Of course, you’ll need a telescope to see your star.  (That’s why we include the SLOOH online telescope experience in our Deluxe, Framed and Ultimate Gift Sets!)  But you can see your constellation without the use of a telescope.

constellation_map2

DIRECTIONS: Find your approximate location in one of the horizontal bars on the map, and then note the corresponding red number (1-7).  Then find your number in the list below to identify what Name A Star Live constellations you can see this month from your corner of the world.

1. Those of you in northern climes can see Andromeda, Aries, Cassiopeia, Pisces and Ursa Minor, where the “Little Dipper” and the North Star are located.
2. Andromeda, Aquarius, Aries, Capricorn, Cassiopeia, Pisces and Ursa Minor are visible.
3. Andromeda, Aquarius, Aries, Capricorn, Cassiopeia and Pisces are visible.
4. Look for Andromeda, Aquarius, Aries, Capricorn, Cassiopeia, Pisces and Sagittarius this month.
5. Andromeda, Aquarius, Aries, Capricorn, Pisces and Sagittarius are visible this month.
6. Aquarius, Capricorn, Pisces and Sagittarius are visible.
7. Aquarius, Capricorn and Sagittarius are visible.

You can also find your constellation by using our Virtual Planetarium™ astronomy software.  A planisphere is another useful device.

Here’s a neat image from NASA of a nearby galaxy in the the constellation Andromeda:

m31
The "Andromeda Galaxy" (M31)

On a clear, moonless night — far from city lights — you can see the Andromeda Galaxy with your naked eye: It will appear as a fuzzy blob of light in the constellation Andromeda.  The Andromeda Galaxy is located relatively close to our own galaxy, the “Milky Way,” at a distance of 2.9 million light years, meaning it takes light from the Andromeda Galaxy almost three million years to reach us.

BTW, we’re on a collision course with the Andromeda Galaxy:  Eventually the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies will collide.  But don’t worry — the collision won’t occur until billions of years in the future!

Top Ten Star Messages

As part of our launch of this Name A Star Live blog, we are including a monthly feature where we list the top ten interesting messages our customers have included on their star certificates during the past month.  (Of course, we remove the names and other personal information from the messages before posting them here.)   Each Name A Star Live Gift Set includes a letter-size star certificate that displays the name of the star, astronomical information about the star, and an area where you can include a breif personal message for your gift recipient.

Here are some notable messages our customers wrote in July:

  1. To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and don’t worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest.  You are a star to me.  I love you!
  2. Thank you for your “out of this world” performance!
  3. This is just a little gift to demonstrate my love for you and that our love will always be in the sky, somewhere, living among the many other wonders of this universe.
  4. This star is dedicated to our marriage.  This star will forever sparkle, as our love for each other.  I love you.
  5. Congratulations on 30 years together!  May your star shine brightly forever.  All my love.
  6. In loving memory of your priceless little star.  May she long watch over you both until you all meet again….  With our sincerest condolences.
  7. Hope you had a beautiful christening!  May you always shine as bright as your star.  We love you!
  8. To the one I love the most in this galaxy.  Happy first year anniversary.
  9. Happy Birthday Star Lady!!!
  10. The Sun, the Moon, the Earth, and Mars,  Galaxies, Comets, Planets, and Pulsars,  All, my dear Gran, will be blessed by the star  I’ve named after you, the best Gran by far.

Be sure to check out our new Twitter and Facebook pages where we’ll keep you up-to-date on all things Name A Star Live!

twitter_facebook

August 2009 Constellations

Want to see where your star is in the night sky?

Stars are located within constellations, which are just areas of the night sky.  Scorpius, Aries and Taurus are examples of constellations.  Your Name A Star Live Star Certificate displays the name of your constellation.

You can use the World Constellation Map below to determine if you can see your constellation during the evening hours (between sunset and midnight) in August. Of course, you’ll need a telescope to see your star.  (That’s why we include the SLOOH online telescope experience in our Deluxe, Framed and Ultimate Gift Sets!)  But you can see your constellation without the use of a telescope.

World Constellation Map
World Constellation Map

DIRECTIONS: Find your approximate location in one of the horizontal bars on the map, and then note the corresponding red number (1-7).  Then find your number in the list below to identify what Name A Star Live constellations you can see this month from your corner of the world.

  1. Sorry, no constellations visible this month: Too much daylight!  But check back in September when some of our constellations will be visible.
  2. Ursa Minor’s visible, especially toward the end of August.  Capricorn and Sagittarius are visible as well, although they are low on the horizon.
  3. This is a great month to see Sagittarius — Scorpius too!  Ursa Minor and Capricorn are visible as well.
  4. Capricorn, Sagittarius, Scorpius and Ursa Minor are visible (although Ursa Minor’s very low on the northern horizon!).
  5. Capricorn, Libra, Sagittarius and Scorpius are visible.
  6. Capricorn, Libra, Sagittarius and Scorpius are visible.
  7. Capricorn, Libra, Sagittarius and Scorpius are visible.

You can also find your constellation by using our Virtual Planetarium™ astronomy software.  A planisphere is another useful device.

Hey, here’s a cool image from the constellation Sagittarius:

trifid_nebula
The Trifid Nebula in the constellation Sagittarius (Credit: NASA)

Nebulae are clouds of dust and gas.  Many nebulae — like the Trifid Nebula — serve as stellar nurseries, where stars are born.

Be Sure to See Jupiter This Month

This August is a prime time to see the massive planet Jupiter.  It’s at “opposition” in mid-August, meaning the Earth is between the sun and Jupiter, and Jupiter is at its brightest.  Jupiter’s easy to find with the naked eye:

  • If you’re in the northern hemisphere of Earth, Jupiter is the very bright object that you’ll see toward the southeast during the evening hours (between sunset and midnight).
  • If you live in the southern hemisphere of Earth, Jupiter will appear in the northeast during the evening hours.

If you have a telescope, the best time to see Jupiter is in the late evening hours, close to midnight.  At that point Jupiter is high in the sky, above the thicker layers of the atmosphere found near the horizon: You’ll get a much crisper view of Jupiter if you observe it when it’s high in the sky.  You might see as many as four large moons orbiting the planet.

BTW, if your star is in the constellation Capricorn then you’re in luck: Jupiter is also in Capricorn right now.  So just find Jupiter and you’re looking at your constellation.

Jupiter and one of its moons. Three Earth's could fit inside the Great Red Spot, pictured here. (Credit: NASA)
Jupiter and Io, one of the giant planet's four largest moons. Jupiter is so big that three Earth's could easily fit inside the Great Red Spot, which is pictured here. (Credit: NASA)

For you early birds, the planets Mars and Venus are visible  this month in the east before sunrise.