Birthday gifts for stargazers, worked out from the date
A birthday is a date, and the sky on a date can be worked out exactly. That's three ways in: the constellation of their star sign, the whole sky over the place they were born, or the Moon as it was that day.
Their star sign, drawn from the real sky
Each of the twelve zodiac prints draws one constellation as it sits in the sky, with its brightest stars joined by the traditional figure lines, in the style of an old star atlas. They are astronomy, not horoscopes: the star sign on a birthday card and the constellation the Sun stands in front of on that date no longer line up, because the Earth's axis has slowly shifted over two thousand years. Our guide to zodiac signs and constellations explains the difference. If you would rather not choose one sign, Zodiac Constellations sets all twelve figures around the ecliptic on one plate.
The sky on the day they were born
A personalised star map draws the stars above the town they were born in, for the date and time you enter; any year between 1900 and 2100 works. For a birthday, use the town they were born in and the time on their birth certificate if you know it; if you don't, an evening time still gives the right sky for that night. You get a free preview to check the title and date first.
The Moon on their birthday
A Moon phase print records the Moon's phase for their birthday from the date alone, which makes it the easier pick for a grandparent or a friend whose birth time nobody knows. We compute it for midday UTC.
Something for the desk
The Orion Mug and the Lunar Cycle Mug suit a colleague or a teenager, and anyone whose taste in pictures you can't guess. Both are 11 oz white ceramic, with the design printed in a wide band round the side.
Getting it there on the day
Each print is made after you order it, so give it 4 to 9 working days to arrive anywhere in the UK. Their address can go straight in at checkout, and the gift option keeps prices out of the box.