In 2010, Ángeles Durán became known around the world as “the woman who owns the Sun.” Documents from a notary public office in Vigo, Spain, declared her the owner of “the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, located at the centre of the solar system, 150 million kilometres from Earth.”
But how did this happen? Durán spotted a loophole in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bars governments from claiming celestial bodies but says nothing about private individuals. She was inspired by an American man who had previously registered himself as the owner of the Moon.
The notary, seemingly baffled by the request, nonetheless accepted her paperwork. Just like that, the Sun had an owner.
Durán was not purely motivated by money, though. She planned to keep only 10% of any proceeds for herself, donate half directly to the Spanish government, put 20% into the national pension fund, and use the final 10% to fight world hunger.
She also wanted power companies using solar energy to pay fees, arguing that if businesses could profit from rivers that belong to everyone, she could profit from the Sun, too.
Of course, no government or court officially recognized her claim. Even eBay banned her listings, citing a policy against selling intangible goods.
Durán’s story remains a testament to human creativity and a spotlight on the gaps and inconsistencies in international law, particularly around ownership of things far beyond human reach.
