Buy a galaxy. Real coordinates.
Buy a permanent dedication to a real, NASA-catalogued galaxy. Each purchase includes a 12″×18″ archival cotton certificate, a registry entry filed in perpetuity, and real coordinates any telescope on Earth can verify. From $39, with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.
What you get when you buy a galaxy
- A real, catalogued galaxy
Sourced from NASA/IPAC NED, SDSS DR17, Messier, NGC, and IC catalogs. Real coordinates, real distance, observable from Earth.
- A 12″×18″ archival print
Printed on 300gsm archival cotton with cyan-foil registry seal. Ships in a rigid tube within 5 business days.
- Permanent registry entry
Filed in our public, searchable archive forever. Each galaxy can only be dedicated once.
- 60-day guarantee
If you don't love it, full refund within 60 days — and you keep the print.
- Instant digital edition
Emailed within minutes. You can present the gift immediately while the physical print ships behind it.
- Hand-numbered seal
Every certificate is sealed with cyan foil and a unique entry number you can search any time.
How it works
- 01
Pick a galaxy
Browse 2,065 real galaxies across four tiers. Filter by cost, by catalog (Messier, NGC, IC, SDSS), or by what’s already photographed by Hubble or JWST. The Named tier ($149) is the most popular for milestone gifts — Messier classics like the Whirlpool, Sombrero, and Andromeda.
- 02
Write the dedication
Up to 80 characters for the dedication name and an optional 500-character inscription. The wording is set on the certificate in display type and filed verbatim into the public registry, permanently.
- 03
Receive the digital edition instantly
We email a high-resolution PDF of the certificate within minutes of checkout. If you’re cutting it close to a gift date, this is what you give on the day — the physical ships behind it.
- 04
Physical print ships within 24 hours
12×18 archival cotton, hand-numbered, cyan-foil registry seal, in a rigid shipping tube. Worldwide. Tracking number emailed when it leaves the production facility.
Pricing
- Standard
Real SDSS / NGC catalog entry. 1,800 to choose from. Same archival print.
$39 - Notable
Photographed by Hubble or a major ground-based survey. Real telescope imagery.
$79 - NamedMost picked
Messier classics with public names — the Whirlpool, Sombrero, Andromeda. 4 in 5 buyers pick this tier.
$149 - Signature
The five most iconic. JWST First Deep Field, Hubble Ultra Deep Field. One dedication each, then they're gone.
$299
Use code FREESHIP at checkout for free worldwide shipping on any tier.
Why people buy a galaxy
“We’d already given them everything — the photo book, the trip, the engraved frames. The galaxy is what they put up first. It’s the only gift this year that doesn’t feel like clutter.”
“Real coordinates I can point at on a clear night. That mattered to me more than I expected. He was an engineer; he would have hated a fake registry. This isn’t a fake registry.”
“The digital certificate showed up in my inbox four minutes after I bought it. The print arrived a week later. They cried twice.”
Why buy a galaxy and not a star
Most people who land here typed “buy a star” first. The honest comparison:
- ·Star-naming sites sell paper certificates with names that no astronomer recognizes — the IAU has zero affiliation with any of them, and never will.
- ·Most star-naming sites don’t enforce uniqueness. The same star can be sold to thousands of people across competing services. Our galaxies can only be claimed once.
- ·Galaxies are older, rarer, and more documented. The Andromeda Galaxy has been observed for 400 million years longer than your wedding.
- ·60-day refund guarantee. Most star-naming sites have none.
- ·Real archival cotton print. Most star-naming sites ship a PDF, then charge another $40 for an unframed letter-size print on copy paper.
Common questions
What does it mean to buy a galaxy?
Buying a galaxy through The Galactic Registry means filing a permanent symbolic dedication tied to a real, NASA-catalogued galaxy. The galaxy itself stays in space — nobody can sell you ownership of a celestial object. What you get is a unique registry entry filed in our public archive forever, real coordinates and catalog data on a 12×18 archival cotton certificate, and a hand-numbered seal. Once the galaxy is dedicated, it's removed from the available pool and can never be re-dedicated.
Is buying a galaxy real or just symbolic?
Both, honestly. The galaxy is real — every entry comes from NASA/IPAC NED, SDSS DR17, Messier, NGC, or IC catalogs, with verifiable coordinates and distance data. The dedication is symbolic — like a memorial bench plaque in a park. Nobody owns the bench, but the dedication is filed and permanent. We don't pretend to be the IAU or claim official naming rights, because no commercial service has them.
How much does it cost to buy a galaxy?
Tiers from $39 to $299. Standard ($39) is a real SDSS or NGC catalog entry with a 12×18 archival print. Notable ($79) covers galaxies photographed by Hubble or major ground-based surveys. Named ($149) is the most-picked tier — Messier classics like the Whirlpool, Sombrero, and Andromeda Galaxies. Signature ($299) is reserved for the five most iconic, including the JWST First Deep Field and Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Every tier ships the same 12×18 print and gets the same permanent registry entry.
What do I receive when I buy a galaxy?
A 12×18 inch archival cotton certificate, printed at 300 GSM with cyan-foil registry seal and hand-numbered entry. Ships worldwide in a rigid archival tube — 5-9 business days within the US, 7-18 days internationally. A digital edition is emailed instantly so the recipient gets something within minutes, even if the physical ships later. The galaxy's catalog identifier, coordinates, distance, and morphology are all printed on the certificate.
Can I buy a galaxy as a gift?
Yes — about 80% of our orders are gifts. You'll see a separate field for the recipient's name, dedication wording, optional inscription (up to 500 characters), and shipping address. The digital certificate is emailed to either you or the recipient depending on your preference, so you can present it on the day even if the physical print arrives later. Common gift occasions: anniversaries, memorials, weddings, birthdays, retirements, and what one customer called "the parking lot grudge from November."
How is buying a galaxy different from buying a star?
Five real differences. (1) Star-naming sites have no uniqueness — the same star is sold to thousands of people across competing services. We enforce uniqueness; once a galaxy is claimed, it's permanently removed. (2) Galaxies are bigger and more documented — 100 to 400 billion stars per galaxy, observable from any major telescope using our coordinates. (3) We ship a real archival print, not just a PDF. (4) We have a 60-day satisfaction guarantee; most star-naming sites have none. (5) Public, searchable registry filed in perpetuity. See our full comparison: name a star vs. name a galaxy.
What's your refund policy?
60-day satisfaction guarantee. If you don't love the certificate after it arrives, we refund the full purchase price within 60 days — and you keep the print. Custom inscriptions and personalization don't disqualify the refund. Once you've redeemed the dedication, the galaxy stays claimed in your name in the registry permanently regardless.
How fast does it ship?
Production starts within 24 hours of purchase. US delivery typically lands within 5-9 business days; international 7-18. The digital certificate is emailed within minutes of purchase, so you can present the gift immediately while the physical ships behind it. For US-only orders placed by 11am PT we usually start production same-day.
Can I see what other dedications look like?
Yes. Our public registry is browseable at nameagalaxy.io/registry — every claimed galaxy, every dedication name, the date filed, and the catalog reference. 435 galaxies dedicated so far across 1,630 available; the registry grows weekly.