A star map gift for her, of a night that is yours

Which night to put on it

The poster is only as good as the night on it. Pick the one she would name first. Where you are together usually decides it:

• Dating for less than a yearThe night you met or your first date. A print of 12 × 16 in, $39 without a frame, is the lighter gift. If you are not sure of the date, see the night we met.
• Living togetherThe first night in your own place. Type the street address and the heart lands on your building.
• EngagedThe night she said yes. The engagement star map page covers daytime and midnight proposals.
• MarriedThe wedding night (wedding star map), or the night your first child was born (birth star map). For a year with a number on it, see the anniversary star map.
• Any of these, or noneThe night she was born. More on that below.
• For your momThe night she married your dad. See anniversary gifts for parents.

Two example posters

For a wife: Ana and Luke, married at Balboa Park

A couple we made up for this page, married in San Diego on Saturday, October 14, 2017. "The whole night" design in Sage fills the poster with the sky. At 9 that evening Deneb stood 65 degrees up in the northwest, Vega 42 degrees, and Altair 45 degrees up in the southwest, the three stars of the Summer Triangle still high in October. The moon, a thin crescent, had not risen. Shown in the oak frame at 18 × 24 in.

For a girlfriend: Jess and Sam, a first date in Brooklyn

Also made up: a first date on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade on March 15, 2025. The "Our star" design in Cream circles the brightest star high overhead and names it under the sky. That night it was Capella, 54 degrees up in the northwest, while a full moon, 97 percent lit, sat just 13 degrees above the horizon. The moon is not drawn on the poster. A 12 × 16 in print, no frame.

The night she was born

A poster of the night she was born works at any stage, and it never goes out of date. The sky at 9 in the evening comes back to almost the same place on the same date every year. We ran the poster's own code for every birth date in 1966, 1976, 1986, 1996 and 2006 against the same date in 2026, over nine US cities from Seattle to Miami:

• The same star, 99 times in 100The "Our star" poster circles the same star on her birth night and on her birthday this year in 98.8 to 99.7 percent of cases.
• Less than a degree apartThe whole sky has shifted by 0.9 degrees at most, about two widths of the full moon.

So on her birthday, at about 9 in the evening, the star on her poster is up over that place again. Born in the daytime or after midnight? See what time is printed on a birth star map.

Is her star sign on it?

On a birthday poster, usually not. On her birthday the sun sits in or next to the constellation of her sign, so that part of the sky is up by day and has set by evening. We checked the brightest star of each sign's constellation at the poster's 9 pm on every birthday of that sign, over the same nine cities:

Sign dates as in a newspaper horoscope, Aries from March 21. The poster draws the constellation lines without names.

Can you name a star after her?

No one can in a way astronomers recognize. The International Astronomical Union, which gives stars their official names, says it does not sell star names and has nothing to do with the companies that do. What our poster does instead: the "Our star" design circles a real star that was high over your place that night and prints its real name, the one in every star atlas. On Jess and Sam's poster that is Capella. She can go outside on a clear evening in late winter and find it.

Order dates for Christmas 2026

• Order by Monday, December 14Posters reach US doors in 4 to 8 business days, 2 to 3 in the lab and 2 to 5 with the carrier. Weekends and US holidays are not counted. An order placed on the 14th arrives by Thursday the 24th even at the slow end.
• December 15 to 18It can still make it if the lab and the carrier both run at the quick end. We cannot promise it.
• Outside the USWe send the print without a frame, 10 to 30 business days. Order by Tuesday, November 10.
• Keeping it a surpriseThe tracking link goes to your email, not hers. Ship it to your own address, or tick "This is a gift, ship it straight to them" at checkout: no prices go in the box, and a note of up to 300 characters is printed on a card (US orders).

For Christmas Eve itself on the poster, see the Christmas star map.

Which size for her wall

A frame adds its own width on every side. These are the outside sizes, rounded:

Slim: black, white, oak or espresso, 0.875 in wide. Wide: black and gold or driftwood gray, 3 in wide. A queen bed is 60 in across, so the large poster in a slim frame covers a little under half of it. Every frame comes assembled, with clear acrylic in front and a hanger on the back.

The line under the sky

One line, up to 40 characters, in the lettering of the design you pick. The two names fit easily. A few that fit:

• Ana & Luke10 characters, as on the example above.
• To my wife, under the same stars32 characters.
• Where it all began18 characters.
• Happy birthday, Jess20 characters, for the night she was born.

Anything longer goes in the gift note. The place and the date print in small capitals under the line, and you can shorten the place to a park or a town.

Sizes and prices

Each size and frame carries the same poster.

Shipping is free in the US. Launch prices until Nov 30. You see the price of every size and frame in the editor before you pay.

Returns

A poster with a name that arrived as ordered is not taken back. Damaged or printed wrong: email a photo within 30 days of delivery and we reprint or refund in full. See returns.

More star maps

• Design a star map for any place and date
• See the sky on any date, free
• Star map of the night we met
• Wedding star map
• Engagement star map
• Birth star map
• Christmas star map gift
• Anniversary street map for her
• Star map gift for him
• Valentine's Day star map