For as long as the earth has existed, human beings have admired the night sky and all its wonders. The study of stars, called astronomy, is one of the oldest natural sciences and early civilizations managed to make methodical observations of these celestial objects using a combination of mathematics, physics, and chemistry to explain the origin and evolution of objects of interest such as planets, moons, nebulae, galaxies, comets and, of course, stars.
David Tech, who has had a passion for coding since the age of 13, shifted his focus to Smart Contracts in 2020 and recognized an increased interest in the NFTs (Non-Fungible Token) recent trend since he was in search of a new subject to do as a video for teaching smart contracts on his now-popular YouTube channel that learns people the ins-and-outs of coding.
While outside in his garden, he was looking up at the stars when the idea suddenly came to him to purchase a star. However, he soon realized that there was no company site that allows you to make an official purchase or rename a star, which is why DeStar was born.
Star Naming
Originally ancient cultures saw patterns in the heavens which resembled common objects, creatures, or people and constellations came to represent figures of god-favored heroes and beasts from Greek mythology, such as Ursa Major, Orion, and Corvus just to name a few. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the world authority for assigning names to celestial objects and it officially recognizes 88 constellations in our universe.
Alpha Star
The brightest and most rare type of star in a constellation has “alpha” as part of its scientific name and, furthermore, this type of star can be seen in large cities, with a lot of light around. Some examples of some of the brightest stars in the sky are Sirius (a Canis Majoris), Canopus (a Carinae), Alpha Orionis better known as Betelgeuse, and Sol which is our sun.
Beta Star
Typically designated “beta”, the second brightest star in the constellation can be observed in small cities with a moderate amount of light available. Rigel (Beta Orionis) is a supergiant star in the constellation of Orion and is an example of a bright beta star and can appear as a single blue-white point of light to the naked eye.
Gamma Star
Even though these stars are smaller, they can still be visible in small villages with minimal light around and is easy to recognize in the constellation of Orion the Hunter. Gamma Orionis, Gamma Lyrae, and Gacrux (Gamma Crucis) are all examples of stars that have been classified on the celestial sphere.
Can you really name a star?
With DeStar you can register in Decentralized Storage IPFS with an NFT, which basically means that you will not be purchasing the star itself, but you are creating an NFT with a reference to a star and a name inside the blockchain. Your certificate is hosted on IPFS and your star name will live on the Ethereum blockchain via smart contracts which ultimately ensures that every star is unique. A digital economy will allow you to immortalize yourself in the blockchain which other companies do not provide since they keep their own private database which contains stars from the catalog and associated star names. The problem is that they will give you a certificate and instructions for finding your star in the sky, however, these names are not recognized by the international astronomical community. Davidds’ aim is to give the power back to the people that own these stars by giving them a way to keep their registration “unique, rare, and eternal”
Rules written in the Stars
There are a couple of guidelines to take note of when you have decided to register your stars’ name, which is as follows:
- Star name(s) must be unique and is case insensitive
- Maximum use of 25 symbols are allowed, which includes spaces
- The name of the star cannot end or start with a space
- Strictly alphanumerical symbols can be used
- The name of the star cannot be changed once registered
The Final Take
With many stars still up for grabs, you can make one, or more, yours with the help of DeStar. Tech has officially cracked the code to solidifying yourself a spot in the night sky, and if you are interested to learn more about smart contracts and Crypto, head over to his YouTube channel to find out more.
See Davidd Tech on Youtube
