One of the perfect gifts that you can give yourself or someone you care for is star maps that are designed for meaningful moments in life. A star map can show how the stars are aligned during a specific moment in time. Stars will always be aligned differently during your birthday, wedding day, or anniversary.
Personalizing a star map
To have a personalized star map, you have to enter a specific date, place, and time on a configurator that can calculate the visible stars at that certain moment. It is relatively simple but the science behind the star map is somewhat complicated.
Sophisticated computer programs are used to be able to access and sift through relevant celestial data. Relevant data includes galactic coordinates, sizes, and brightness of the stars that are seen by the naked eye from any given point on the planet earth. To put it simply, these are the stars that you see during a clear night.
Since the position of the stars is constantly changing as the earth revolves around the sun, the exact coordinates like azimuth and elevation of the stars must be established during the exact moment chosen which is the date, time, and year in the past or future.
One of the sources of raw data used to personalize star maps is the Hipparcos Catalogue that accurately measures the positions of celestial objects in the sky. Hipparcos, a satellite was launched by the European State Agency in 1989 for precision astronomy. Today, it has become a significant source of data to measure the position and motion of more than 100,000 stars.
To determine the accuracy of the star map, look at the sky at night. Enter your current location, date, and time on the configurator and then go out and look up. The same alignment will also appear on your computer screen.
How star maps are aesthetically presented
To bring life to the star map, it is printed on premium quality art paper made from 100% cotton. Because the fine paper is naturally acid and lignin-free, maximum colour contrast can be achieved to make the star map an amazing centrepiece for any wall space.
The star map can also be printed and stretched on 100% cotton canvas. It will be sprayed with invisible laminate as protection against UV damage. It is scientifically proven that stretched canvas prints can last up to 70 years while maintaining its vibrant colours.
For enhanced quality and aesthetics, the star map can also be framed using a 50mm wooden frame. The standard is a white or black frame but other colours are also available. A 20mm card mat is used inside the frames for the small-sized star map.
