A newborn star map: the sky they arrived under

What goes on a newborn star map

The chart is the sky over the place of birth at the time of birth. Under it go your words. Most newborn star maps carry:

• the baby’s full name,
• the date and time of birth,
• the place, as a city or the hospital’s town,
• and sometimes the weight and length, or a short line from the parents.

Or start from our new-baby wording, “The Night You Were Born” with “The stars were watching the night you arrived.” underneath, and change any of it.

Getting the time right

The time of birth turns the whole sky, about 15 degrees an hour, so it is worth getting from the hospital record if you can. We use the time zone and daylight-saving rules in force at that place on that date, so the sky is right even for a birth decades ago, before the rules changed.

A baby born at noon still has a star map: the stars were overhead, just hidden by daylight, and the chart shows them as they stood.

For a baby shower

Before the birth you do not have the moment yet. Some people give a star map of the due date in the parents’ city, or of the night the parents met, and leave the newborn star map for later.

The moon on the day they were born

A moon phase print of the same night makes a pair with the star map. See the moon on any date before you choose.

What you get

Today it comes as a high-resolution digital file for USD $29, emailed within minutes and sized to print sharply at 18×24 inches, a standard frame size, at any print shop or photo lab. Printed and framed versions from us are coming soon. A second design in the same order is 25% off.