If you've ever looked up at the night sky and wondered whether you could put your name — or someone else's — on one of those points of light, the answer is yes. Here's exactly how it works, what you're actually getting, and what to expect from start to finish. If you're ready to get started, NamedLight's packages are here.
Step 1: Choose Your Package
The first decision is which tier of star you want to name. Stars vary significantly in brightness, and the packages reflect that difference.
Star brightness is measured on the astronomical magnitude scale — a counterintuitive system where lower numbers mean brighter stars. NamedLight's three tiers map directly onto this scale:
- Bright ($19.99): Stars with a magnitude between 7.0 and 8.0. Just below naked-eye visibility, but well within binocular range.
- Brilliant ($29.99): Stars with a magnitude between 5.0 and 7.0, at or near the threshold of what the naked eye can see on a clear night.
- Supernova ($39.99): Stars with a magnitude of 5.0 or brighter, the most luminous unnamed stars in the catalog, assigned starting from the brightest available.
Every package includes a digital PDF certificate emailed within minutes and an online registry page with a sky chart of your star.
Step 2: Pick a Constellation
Once you've chosen a tier, you can request a specific constellation. NamedLight offers 30 curated constellations to choose from — familiar ones like Orion, Leo, Cassiopeia, and Lyra, as well as lesser-known but equally rich options like Aquila, Cepheus, and Corona Borealis.
If the person you're naming a star for has a favorite constellation, a birth sign, or a connection to a particular part of the sky, this is where that detail makes the gift more personal. You can also choose a hemisphere preference — northern sky, southern sky, or equatorial — if location matters more than a specific constellation.
If your chosen constellation has no available star in your package's brightness range, we'll assign the closest match from the wider catalog, so you always receive a star.
Step 3: Enter the Name and a Dedication
This is the part that makes the registration personal. Enter the name you want the star to carry — a person's full name, a nickname, a meaningful phrase. You can also include a short dedication that will appear on the certificate and registry page alongside the star's details.
Step 4: Your Star Is Assigned
As soon as your order is placed, a real catalogued star is selected from the HYG Stellar Database and set aside in your name. The HYG database contains roughly 119,000 real stars with verified coordinates, measured brightness, and calculated distances — and every star assigned through NamedLight is removed from the available pool. The same star is never assigned twice.
Your registry page goes live at this point, showing the star's name, coordinates, constellation, distance from Earth, and a sky chart of the stars around it, rendered from real star catalog data and centered on your star.
Step 5: Your Certificate Arrives by Email
Within minutes of checkout, your PDF certificate lands in your inbox, in the design you chose. It's ready to print at home or at a print shop, frame, or share digitally. There's nothing to wait for in the mail, which makes it easy to give on the day, even if you're ordering at the last minute.
One Thing Worth Knowing Upfront
Star naming is a symbolic and commemorative gift. The names registered through NamedLight — and through any commercial star registry — are not recognized by the International Astronomical Union, the official body responsible for astronomical naming. Scientists won't refer to your star by its registered name.
What you're getting is a real star, with real data, recorded in a private registry under the name you've chosen. The gesture is symbolic. The star and the science behind it are not. We think that's worth being clear about — and we think it's still a genuinely meaningful thing to give someone.
How Long Does It Take
Everything is ready immediately. Your registry page goes live as soon as your order is complete, and your PDF certificate is emailed within minutes.