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Open Forum 2 www.oup.com/elt/openforum Oxford University Press 2006

Open Forum 2Web Site Transcript

Chapter 11

A = Erica, radio host

B = Adam Richards, studio guest

A: Good morning listeners, and welcome to Windowon Tomorrow, the show that brings you the latest inlifestyle trends and fads. Today, we are talking to ayoung man who had a heavenly idea for honoringthe angel in his life. On the recent occasion of hisfiances birthday, he gave her a very special gift,and he is here today to tell us more about it. AdamRichards, welcome to the show.

B: Thank you Erica, it is a pleasure to be here.

A: Exactly what did you buy for your fiances birthday?

B: As you mentioned in your introduction, it was aheavenly gift, fit for an angel. I named a star after her.

A: Tell us how you do that. Can you just go out on aclear night and choose a star and give it a name?

B: No, it isnt that easy. After all, most of the stars thatwe can see with the naked eye were named long ago,usually more than once, as different cultures gavethem different names.

A: So if you didnt name one of those stars I see in thenight sky, which one did you name?

B: One youve never seen, and are unlikely to seeunless you own a very powerful telescope. Yousee, every yearevery day reallyastronomersare discovering new stars. Telescopes become morepowerful every year, and there are literally hundredsof thousands of starsan infinite number I suppose. . . though Ive heard the number of stars currentlyvisible is approximately 18 million. And each ofthose stars needs a name. One of them is now calledRebecca Ann.

A: Let me see if I have this straight . . . right now, as wespeak, somewhere overhead there is a star namedRebecca Ann.

B: Rebecca Ann Wilson, to be exact. Soon to be RebeccaAnn Richards.

A: You say you named the star, but you cant exactlyput a name tag on it, or a sign or something like that. . . so how did you accomplish this?

B: There is an organization called The InternationalStar Registry that was founded in 1979, and theyrecord the name you choose and provide youwith a star. You get the precise information telling

you where the star is in the skythese are calledtelescopic coordinatesand a sky chart with yourstar circled for easy identification. I also found thebooklet they provided on astronomy really helpful.

A: The International Star Registrythat is the nameof the organization that keeps track of the names ofthese new stars. Is it a governmental agency . . . partof the United Nations?

B: No, its an independent organization that isrecognized by the amateur astronomical associationsin nearly every country. They have agreed toadopt any name for a newly discovered star thatis registered with any affiliated organization in

any of these countries. So, now that Ive registeredRebeccas name, and have been assigned a star, Iknow that someone in London, or Tokyo, or NewDelhi who wishes to name a star after his fiancewill not be naming my . . . well her star.

A: You mentioned amateur astronomical associations.Are you an amateur astronomer yourself?

B: I suppose I am. Id say that Ive become one recently.After I presented the certificate and information toRebecca for her star, she was so pleased that shebought me a telescope for my birthday. It took usa long time to locate her star, and frankly, its not

easily visible with the type of telescope we have . . .but it got both of us really interested in astronomy.We havent joined a club yet, but we have watched acouple of videos that we got from the InternationalStar Registry catalog. Then, she bought me a copyof Amateur Astronomer. Im not sure how far thiswill go, but so far, we have learned a lot, and are stillvery interested.

A: Have you considered naming another star?

B: We were talking about that just the other day. Atfirst, I thought that people only named stars aftertheir fiances or husbands or wives. Now that I

think about it . . . that was a really silly thought. Youcan name a star after anyonea son or daughter inhonor of his or her birthday, as a holiday present, orfor an anniversary. I think it is a great gift for nearlyany occasion.

A: Well keep that in mind. Thank you for coming today.

B: It was my pleasure.

A: Now it is time in our program for . . .