After billions of years the Sun finally has an owner --
a woman from Spain's soggy region of Galicia said Friday she had
registered the star at a local notary public as being her
property.
Angeles Duran, 49, told the online edition of daily El Mundo she
took the step in September after reading about an American man who
had registered himself as the owner of the moon and most planets in
our Solar System.
There is an international agreement which states that no country
may claim ownership of a planet or star, but it says nothing about
individuals, she added.
"There was no snag, I backed my claim legally, I am not stupid,
I know the law. I did it but anyone else could have done it, it
simply occurred to me first."
The document issued by the notary public declares Duran to be
the "owner of the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, located in the
centre of the solar system, located at an average distance from
Earth of about 149,600,000 kilometres".
Duran, who lives in the town of Salvaterra do Mino, said she now
wants to slap a fee on everyone who uses the sun and give half of
the proceeds to the Spanish government and 20 percent to the
nation's pension fund.
She would dedicate another 10 percent to research, another 10
percent to ending world hunger -- and would keep the remaining 10
percent herself.
"It is time to start doing things the right way, if there is an
idea for how to generate income and improve the economy and
people's well-being, why not do it?" she asked.