Printable star map gift
A sample you can keep
The example marks the millennium celebration at the Greenwich meridian: 1 January 2000, 00:00 UTC, latitude 51.4779°, longitude 0°. This is the sky calculated for the meridian, not a record of what visitors saw that night. The chart shows a calculated sky, not a photograph or a forecast of weather and visibility.
Prepare your gift
- Choose the date and local time of the moment. If you only know the day, choose an approximate time and tell the recipient it is approximate.
- Find the latitude and longitude of the event location. Use the correct time zone for that date, including any daylight saving change.
- Open the creator, enter those values and compare Horizon and Atlas. Check the date and chart summary before paying.
- Choose the paper size for your frame. Print at actual size and turn off browser headers and footers.
Paper and framing
| Paper | Dimensions | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | Home printer, desk gift |
| US Letter | 8.5 × 11 in | US home printer |
| A3 | 297 × 420 mm | Print shop, wall frame |
PDF keeps the intended page dimensions; PNG is exported at 300 dpi for the selected size. Ask the print shop for actual size, no cropping and no automatic colour correction. A4 and Letter have different proportions: choose the matching export rather than stretching the artwork.
Use A4 or US Letter for a home print. Try plain paper first to check margins. Matte paper reduces reflections; check your printer’s supported paper weight. Horizon uses more dark ink; Atlas has a light background. Larger prints need the paid printable export, rather than an enlarged preview.
What the chart means
The horizon and celestial positions depend on the instant and coordinates. The calculation does not recreate buildings, clouds or light pollution. Moment Sky covers 2000–2050. A guessed birth time cannot produce an exact birth sky.
Choose the remembered instant
For an anniversary, use the ceremony or the first meeting, and write down which one you chose. For a birth, check a recorded time rather than guessing. A town-centre coordinate is a reasonable choice when an exact address is private. The date range is 2000–2050, so an older anniversary cannot be recreated here.
Midnight needs particular care: 00:00 on 1 January is the beginning of that day. A UTC offset must belong to the event date, not today. If the creator rejects an ambiguous clock change, use the explicit offset from the original record.
