It’s been seven years since Irene, my son’s wife, died of metastatic cancer and like we usually do, our small family went to visit the crypt where her ashes are kept. We realize that we still miss her, in the same measure that we still miss all the deceased loved ones in our family, most specially those who’ve gone too soon like Irene.
When the love for a departed one is so great, it seems that going to the crematorium or cemetery every year is not enough. There’s something more we want to do to honor the memory of the beloved other than candles, flowers and prayers.
This must be why I got interested when I read something about an online service that names a star in the heavens in memory of a beloved someone who has passed away or as gift to a living loved one.By having your loved one’s name included in an interactive Star Registry, you can mark that person’s life in a way that goes beyond the typical gravestone or marble memorial.
Think about it: all you need to do is look up at the sky at night and know in your heart there’s a star in his or her name somewhere in the vastness of space, always there watching over you.
But before we get carried away by lush romantic sentiments, there are caveats to this online registry service.
First of all, it’s not free. You pay a fee for the service. You can choose from variety of packages with prices ranging from P1,000 (P$20) to over P5,000 ($100.) One star registry even provides a unique service; all their packages include your chosen star name and a special message of dedication that are launched into space on a real mission. Pretty neat, don’t you think?
And the clincher: with each package, you get a certificate as proof that a certain star is named after your beloved one. This will be included in their interactive Star Registry, which is open to the public.
Hold on, however. These certificates are not recognized by the scientific community. Only the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially names stars. Most stars named by the IAU are simply numbers and coordinates. By the way, the International Astronomical Union is headquartered in Paris, France.
Valid or not, official or not, legitimate or not, to me it’s the thought that counts, as the cliché goes.
With this certificate pinned on the wall, on a clear night, probably with the aid of an inexpensive telescope, I can point to my grand kids where their mommy’s star is, and I’m sure that they would feel comforted. In turn, they too can tell their children and their children’s children. That is good enough for me.
The good thing is we will never run out of stars to name. There are billions and billions out there. Every day, a new star in born somewhere in the universe. What’s more, like your memory of them, it will be a light that will never go out. An average star just like our Sun can continue to last for as long as 20 to 50 billion years before it explodes and burns out.
But there’s another reason why this idea of naming stars is not a silly thing at all.
To me it serves as a symbolic acknowledgement of our original physical state. It reminds us that we all come from the stars. As Carl Sagan is quoted as saying: “We are made of star-stuff.” Then he elaborates: “The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars.”
And sooner or later, to the stars we return. Do you remember the words lifted from the Book of Genesis and intoned by the priest on Ash Wednesday: “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return?” Also in Ecclesiastes: “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.” By “dust” we now mean not just earth dust but “star dust.” Our atoms become part of the universe again to be part of the birthing of a new star.
As of now, no one in my circle knows about this naming a star service. However, soon through word of mouth, this will become a global practice. All those stars out there will probably no longer be nameless. We will have real stars in the heavens with real people’s names. Linda. Monching. Cirilo. Benito. Rodolfo. Clara. And so on. With such familiar names, we will never fear the night again. For even on the darkest night, we will have our loved ones shining down on us. See, they never really left us, they’re still there.
Or are we just deceiving or deluding ourselves? Perhaps.
But then again, when I look up at the heavens on a clear night and start thinking that somewhere in that vastness there might be two anonymous stars reserved for me and my wife that will be recorded in the official Star Record Book for all time, it is easier to contemplate about the possible eternity of our lives.
There could be one unexpected happy benefit from this Name A Star idea. It could spark a latent interest in astronomy. For example, you may want to know more about stars, galaxies and constellations. Actually you can explore the entire sky in the comfort of your own home: digital sky surveys are online, as well as sophisticated planetarium software. This allows you to browse through many hundreds of millions of stars on your computer and explore the Universe from the comfort of your own home.
You can also follow a streaming platform like Astrum. This is an accessible source of intelligent and easy-to-understand content on the planets and the stars and everything a layman needs to know about the universe.
Kindred spirits and like-minded enthusiasts will be happy to show you the real stars through their own telescopes. Imagine seeing the stars the same way the great astronomers like Galileo and Kepler did. You could even build your personal observatory.
Ultimately seeing those oceans and oceans of stars keeps you awed by the majesty of creation.
Let me now close this starry rumination with one of my favorite lines from “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare: “When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.”