Yet we give them the most foolish of names.
↓ read onThe International Astronomical Union is the sole legitimate authority on the naming of celestial objects. We respect that authority enough to catalog every name they have ever approved, (all 650+ of them) in this database, with full attribution and permanent records.
Many stars have been given venerable and honorable names, like Arcturus and Copernicus, named after their characteristics or after a famous Astronomist or Scientist. This is completely acceptable for a Star. But what has been done recently is not this. That is exactly why we will say this plainly: some of the recent names given to Stars are an embarrassment to the objects they label.
A star has been burning since before the first man has existed on this planet. A Star is the means by which life survives on this or any planet. It has been present at every moment of cosmic history we know about. Yet the organization tasked with naming it decided, in the year 2024, to call one of them Dust-Ball.
"We want to be clear. We are not against the IAU. We catalog their names and always will. We are against the idea that a star deserves the same energy as naming a goldfish."
We understand how it happens. The WGSN accepts name proposals from member states and national societies. Some names are genuinely beautiful. Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, Diadem, and many others, ancient names carried forward across millennia of stargazing cultures, each one a thread connecting us to the people who lay on their backs in the dark and looked up and wondered. But then the IAU goes and names one of these beautiful stars Flying Saucer.
The list goes on. And on. And on.
How can this be? Who approves this? Who sits at their desk and thinks, "Oh yes, I vote for that name." How is this right? These names are officially approved. Forever named. Placed in the permanent record.
This nonsense has to stop. The nations must protest this. No, the entire world must protest this. For us, our protest comes in the form of a new engine, an engine we call CORE. CORE stands for Celestial Object Renaming Engine. An engine built solely to give each star (at least in our galaxy) a proper and beautiful name. CORE has already named over 55M+ objects, stars and galaxies, and it can do so much more. We are fully aware that the IAU will never use our engine. But we don't care. CORE is not just a protest. It is an answer.
Each name below was approved by the IAU Working Group on Star Names and will appear in the permanent astronomical record for as long as humanity keeps records. See the names below to our utter shame.
GET https://api.core.thestardb.org/search?q=Vega&table=stars returns the scientific name, CORE given name, and the full name reason for any object in the catalog. Query stars, galaxies, pulsars, neutron stars, and all 22 object types freely. Requests are rate-limited per IP to prevent abuse. Normal use will never hit the limit. See the CORE specification for the full engine reference.CORE is not a replacement for the IAU catalog. It is a supplement, and an editorial statement. Here is when it is and is not the right tool.
A name is not a description. When you name a child, you are not cataloging their weight. You are saying: this one is known. A star deserves nothing less.
Type any IAU-approved star name, or try one of the examples below, and see what CORE would have named the same object instead.
Every star gift through TheStarDB carries a CORE name when the IAU hasn't named it. The name is on the certificate, the permanent page, and rendered live in STEN every time someone scans the code.