Why a star map gift by GreaterSkies
This is what makes GreaterSkies maps unique
Over the years we have received feedback from many customers, and we believe we know why people love our maps. If you want...
- your night sky to show not just a few stars but a stunning starry sky.
- to see the stars and constellations as they truly were at the precise moment in time.
- your star map gift printed on top quality media with colors that will last for a lifetime.
- to make sure you get the right map and get help if anything happens.
Then a GreaterSkies sky map is for you.
A stunningly beautiful and accurate starry sky
Why thousands of stars make all the difference
GreaterSkies custom star maps remain unmatched for accuracy and level of detail. Unlike some other star charts that only show major stars, our maps show 7,000 to 8,000 stars, the constellations and the Solar System planets. At any time of day or night, for past or future dates, anywhere on earth.
All the stars up to magnitude 7 that were visible in the sky at that moment in time above that precise location are plotted. Every tiny dot in your map corresponds to a star that was actually there. This is actually more stars than are visible to the naked eye, even on a clear night, with no light pollution. The Solar system planets, the Moon and the Sun are also shown. When customising your map, you can choose to display or not the constellations with their names and the main star names.
Star colors and size reflect what we see in the night sky
The color of the stars on our star chart is not random, or chosen just to look nice: it is based on each star actual color. Likewise, the stars are shown in a size corresponding to their magnitude. Sure, it would be easier to paint all the stars as white dots, as others do. But we want to give you the best.
The result? A stunningly beautiful star map gift. Because scientific accuracy and level of detail make a real difference.
Take a look at the samples, explore and zoom in.
The names of the constellations and all the major stars
GreaterSkies sky maps show the names of all the constellations and the major stars. This is again a feature that is often missing, because placing the names in the correct place takes quite a bit of calculation. But we feel it’s important, what’s the point of showing constellation lines without naming them?
And this way, you can use our sky maps for stargazing as true astronomical charts, the information is all there.
The night sky AND the day sky: why exact time matters
Your star map gift will be precise down to the minute. It takes quite a bit of extra computation to calculate this. So why do it? Because the position of the stars in the sky over a given place changes during the course of a 24h day.
So the star chart at noon and at midnight over your wedding location look very different! We want your custom map to show the sky as it really was (even it it was daylight and the stars were not visible) rather than showing the night sky at an arbitrary time.
The positions are accurate for dates between between 1900 and 2100; we are still working on the extra computation necessary to generate accurate star charts beyond these dates. We feel you ought to know.
Top quality, printed neary you
You want your star map gift to look really nice, so we make sure to use top quality materials and the best production standards for all our products.
We partner with top printers globally, so we can print your map as close to you as possible. This lowers our carbon footprint, and allows us to deliver your map as fast as possible.