Many planetariums are confronted with the question, whether the star can be bought, gifted or named after a person. Some planetariums offer to adopt a star in order to maintain their services. Then, an one-off payment can be charged or a temporary fee which is supposed to cover a lot of internal expenses. The supplier of the patronage administrates a list on which a "bought" star corresponds with a name of the owner. He usually guarantees that the star is unambiguously assigned, i.e. no double-occupancies exist. This is formalised by a certificate.

Such list and renamings do not have a scientific relevance, though. They are part of an internal register of the facility only. The awarding of astronomical names for stars, planets, or even craters on moons will officially be contracted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Then, certain criteria are respected like relevance to mythology or a cultural legend. Consequently, there are only about some few hundred bright stars possessing a special name. It is mostly of an Arabic or in even lesser cases of Greek origin. A lage number of planetaria depends on donations, since the financial support by the local government is scarce. Therefore, other alternatives of patronage emerged, e.g. adoptions of a chair, engravings on a donators' plate, buying bricks, or a designation of the building after a great sponsor.