Navy Star Map

The circle holds around 9,000 stars from the HYG catalog, down to magnitude 6.5, and all 88 constellations recognised by the International Astronomical Union, drawn with their official line figures. Positions are computed for your coordinates and your minute, for any date from 1900 to 2100, so the map shows what stood overhead at that moment: which constellations were rising, which were high, which had set.

There is no photograph and no texture. Navy is the chart and nothing else, which is what makes it timeless. If you want atmosphere behind the stars, Galaxy adds a nebula; if you want the same chart on a pale poster, Navy Disc puts the blue circle on off-white.

• The night you met. The design that makes the date the point. Nothing distracts from the sky and the words.
• Anniversaries. It suits any year of a marriage and any room of a house, which matters for a piece meant to stay up for decades.
• Christmas. A safe and serious gift for parents, grandparents and in-laws: the night they married, the night a child was born.
• Office and study walls. Navy is the design that looks right beside diplomas and bookshelves.

For something softer, Moon. For something bolder, Eclipse or Crimson.

The ground is a deep navy with a slight violet cast, dark enough to feel like night and light enough to separate from a black frame. Stars are white with a faint warm or cool tint from each star's real colour index. Constellation lines are a pale steel blue, fine and unobtrusive. The ring is a thin white circle. Title and details are set in off-white.

Navy prints well both ways. On our semi-gloss paper in a black wood frame it looks like a museum print. At home, a matte photo paper keeps the blue even and the stars sharp; avoid thin paper, which lets the blue look patchy.

It sits well on white walls, on grey walls, above beds, sofas and desks, and in a row of framed pieces. It is the design least likely to clash with a room, and the one most likely to still look right in twenty years.

• Where it all began / the night we met
• The Millers / est. 21 June 2014
• Under this sky / we became three
• Merry Christmas / the night you two married
• Class of 2026 / the sky the night you made it

With a longer subtitle, hide the coordinates so the lines beneath the circle stay balanced.

The digital map costs $25 and includes a PNG and a print-ready PDF at 300 DPI, sized for 12x16, 18x24 and 24x36 inch frames. Files arrive by email within minutes of purchase.

Framed prints are $69 for 12x16, $109 for 18x24 and $179 for 24x36. Each comes in a black wood frame with an acrylic front on semi-gloss paper, ready to hang. Shipping is free to the US and 40+ countries and usually takes 7 to 12 business days.

You can add your own photo to any map for $19. Every order is covered by a 14-day money-back guarantee, counted from purchase for digital files and from delivery for framed prints.