BARNARD Castle now has a star named after it in a far away galaxy.
The naming rights to the star, called Beautiful Barnard Castle, were purchased by the Making Barney Brighter Together group, which was set up last year to increase visitors and promote the town.
The idea is that if plans for an observatory go ahead at Grassholme, people will be able to hunt for it in the night sky.
Last week, a presentation was made to the town council including a certificate and map of the star’s location in Corona Borealis, a small constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere.
Town councillor Cllr Sandra Moorhouse said: “We thought it would be a lovely thing to do because we’re making Barney a brighter place to be.”
Corona Borealis, which was first catalogued by the ancient Greeks, is described as an almost perfect semi-circle of stars.
There are a number of ancient myths and legends surrounding the constellation and the Arabs know it as “poor people’s bowl” – however, its Latin name, inspired by its shape, means “northern crown”.
The galaxies are more than a billion light years away and can be seen from the UK in spring and summer.
