A date and place
A personalized star map
A first meeting, birth or wedding: choose the date, place and your words. Free preview, HD PNG €3.99; printed and framed formats offered separately.
Create my star map See formats and pricesFree star map: the sky of a date and a place
Use the free tool ↓Free: a preview of the sky for your date and city, to download with a watermark. Paid and optional: the watermark-free HD file (€3.99) and prints.
Choose a city and a date, then create the preview: it appears within seconds, computed for 10 pm local time. This is an astronomical chart, not a horoscope.
Explore the sky for free
The free tool loads on this page with JavaScript. Choose a city and a date once the tool appears: the preview shows the bright stars and planets above the horizon at 10 pm local time (a fixed reference time), over an illustrated background. The time can be set in the poster creator.
- Choose the city from the list, then a date between 1 January 1900 and today.
- Create the preview: it appears within seconds, with the names of the brightest stars. Download or share it for free, with its watermark.
- To keep this sky: open the poster creator to set the time, choose a style and add your words, then buy the watermark-free HD file if you wish.
The preview is free, with no account. The HD file and prints are paid and optional: check the poster preview first. Download this sky as an HD file (PNG 4960 × 7016 px) — €3.99
Starry Memory · Two ways to give the sky
Turn a love of the sky into a personal gift
Choose the story you want to give: the sky at a special moment, or a personal name for one star in our private registry.
One star and a name
Give a star with a personal certificate
View both pages of the PDF certificate From €8.91, choose a real star and its name, for the person of your choice. The two-page A4 PDF certificate is ready to download as soon as you pay. Scan its QR code with a smartphone, no app needed: the star appears in 3D, then the phone shows its direction in the real sky. Symbolic dedication in the private Starry Memory registry.
Choose my star Try the demoThe inscription is in the Starry Memory private registry: it does not transfer physical ownership of a star or change its official astronomical name. Actual visibility depends on your location, the time and the weather.
Free preview or HD file: the differences
- Free: the preview — A 720 × 960 pixel image of the sky at 10 pm above the chosen city, with the date, the place, its coordinates and your names if you add them. It carries the “STARRY MEMORY · PREVIEW” watermark and the site address. Downloading and sharing it are free.
- Paid: the HD file — A 4960 × 7016 pixel PNG at 300 DPI, without a watermark, for €3.99. You prepare it in the poster creator: the time you choose, six styles, names, a message and optional constellation lines. Download it on the website after payment validation.
- Paid: prints — A3 poster at €39.90, A2 poster at €54.90, wooden frame from €134.90. Availability, delivery time and the total for your destination are checked before payment.
- What carries over — The date, place and names of your preview carry over to the poster creator. Its layout differs from the free tool: check the poster preview before ordering.
A birth, a first meeting, a journey or simply tonight: the free map shows the sky of that moment above the chosen city.
What the map shows
The disc is the whole sky above the horizon at 10 pm, local time of the chosen place. The positions of the 97 named bright stars of the site’s catalogue (the HYG catalogue, based on Hipparcos) are computed for that moment; stars below the horizon are left out. The brightest carry their names, such as Sirius or Arcturus, depending on the season. Planets from Mercury to Saturn above the horizon appear as coloured dots without names; their positions are computed with Astronomy Engine. The Moon is not drawn on the preview. The stars of the constellations are there, but not their lines: the poster creator can show them. The Milky Way band and the faint background dots are decorative: they are not specific stars.
How to read the map
Imagine lying on your back with your head to the north. The centre of the disc is the point straight above you, the zenith; the edge of the disc is the horizon. North is at the top, south at the bottom, east on the left and west on the right: east and west are swapped compared with a road map, because you are looking up. The bigger the dot, the brighter the star; its colour follows the star’s own, bluish, white, yellow or orange. To compare with the real sky, face south and hold the map in front of you, the bottom of the disc towards the ground: east is then on your left, as on the map. The sky turns by about 15 degrees an hour: at another time, the same date shows another part of the sky.
For a person: the star certificate
To mark a moment with a person rather than a sky, the star certificate is the site’s other gift. You choose a star from the catalogue, dedicate a name, a message and the date of your choice to it, and download the personalised PDF certificate with a QR code as soon as you pay, from €9.90 in the catalogue. It is a symbolic dedication, recorded in the private Starry Memory registry: it does not change the star’s name in astronomical catalogues. Seeing the star with the naked eye depends on the star chosen, the place, the time and the sky. After your preview, the “Give a star dated…” button carries over the date you just chose; the “Name a star” page explains the certificate in detail.
Frequently asked questions
Is the star map really free?
Yes. The preview, its watermarked download and sharing are free, with no account and no card. You only pay if you choose the watermark-free HD file (€3.99) or a print: A3 poster at €39.90, A2 at €54.90, wooden frame from €134.90.
Can I see the sky on a past date, like the day I was born?
Yes, for any date from 1 January 1900 to today. Enter the date of birth and the city: the preview shows the sky at 10 pm that day. For the exact time of birth, open the poster creator and set the time. Future dates are not offered on this page.
Can I see tonight’s sky?
Yes: choose today’s date and your city, and the preview shows tonight’s sky at 10 pm. For the Moon, the visible planets and their times, the “Sky tonight” page gives the details for your city.
Can I choose the time?
Not on this page: the free tool always computes the sky at 10 pm, local time of the chosen place. The poster creator lets you set the time; if you do not know it, choose a reference time and say so in your message.
What is the difference between the free preview and the HD file?
The preview is 720 × 960 pixels and carries a watermark. The HD file is 4960 × 7016 pixels at 300 DPI, without a watermark, in the style you choose, with your time and your words. It costs €3.99 and is downloaded on the website after payment validation.
Is this a birth chart?
No. It is an astronomical chart: it shows where the stars and planets were in the sky, seen from the chosen city. It gives no astrological reading.