Memorial star maps
A sky to remember them by.
The stars over a place and a day that belonged to them: the night they were born, the day they married, or a day you shared. Any date from 1800 to today.
What the sky held that night.
Over Cardiff at 21:30 on 15 May 1951, worked out by the same engine that draws the print.1
- The Moon, 66% litA waxing gibbous, high in the south.
- VenusHalf way up in the west.
- SaturnHigh in the south.
- 4,244 starsEvery star to magnitude 6.5 above the horizon, the brightest of them Arcturus.
Choosing the day.
Many people choose the night the person was born, which keeps the print about a life and its beginning. Others choose a wedding day, a favourite holiday, or the day they said goodbye. Any of them works.
Our engine reaches back to 1800, so the sky over a grandparent's birth or a wedding long ago is worked out as carefully as last night's.
For older dates, check the clock. The time zone rules come from the world time zone database, whose own notes say its entries before 1970 are often uncertain,7 so look at the zone the designer names beside the time.
Words for a memorial star map.
A title and a line under it. Each opens the designer with the words in place, ready for your names.
- Always in our skyThe stars on the day you were bornUse these words →
- Forever among the starsLoved always, missed every dayUse these words →
- Under the same starsThe night it all began for youUse these words →
- Still shiningThe sky above the day you arrivedUse these words →
- In loving memoryThe sky the day you were bornUse these words →
- You are the stars to usThe sky of our wedding dayUse these words →
Questions about memorial star maps.
Which date should I choose for a memorial star map?
A date that belonged to them: their birth, their wedding, or a day you shared. Some people choose the day they passed, and that works too.
Can I go back before 1900?
Yes, to 1 January 1800. The positions come from the same planetary theory and star catalogue for every date.
Can I add their name and years?
Yes. Use the third line for a name and years, or the title for their name alone. The place, the date and time are printed beneath.
How accurate is the star map?
We test it. For four reference moments our chart is checked against JPL's Horizons system and the US Naval Observatory: the planets land within 3 arcseconds, the Moon within 12 and the bright navigational stars within 1.5. On a 50 × 70 cm print the worst of them is less than 0.03 mm from where it belongs.1,2,3
What do I get when I buy the print file?
A PNG image of your design at 300 dots per inch, at the size you chose (5,906 × 8,268 pixels for 50 × 70 cm), ready for any printer. Straight after payment we make your file at full size, ready to download from your order page, and we email you a link to it that keeps working.
More occasions.
- Wedding star mapsThe sky over the day you married
- Birth star mapsThe sky the moment they arrived
- Anniversary star mapsThe sky of the night it all began
Not sure of the night yet? See the night sky on any date, free, then keep the one you want.
Sources
- Our own test of the chart against [2] and [3] for four reference moments (tests/prints-chart.test.js in our code, October 2026): planets within 3″, the Moon within 12″, the navigational stars within 1.5″; under 0.03 mm on a 50 × 70 cm print.
- JPL Horizons System, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons
- Astronomical Applications Department, US Naval Observatory. aa.usno.navy.mil/data
- The IANA Time Zone Database and its notes on how reliable old entries are. iana.org/time-zones, theory.html
The example's names are made up. Prices are in pounds sterling; the print file is a digital download. Every data source is on our credits page.