The star is not a lucky pick. Enter the moment and place of passing, and we find the real star nearest the zenith of that instant in a genuine catalog. Every step is standard astronomy, verifiable any time.
Free to compute · nothing reserved · name it only when you are ready
Only two inputs: the date (and optionally the exact time), and the place. Do not recall the time? Tick “use the local sunset” — we compute the true sunset of that day and place (solar lower limb 0.833° below the horizon) and calculate on it. Places resolve by city search or a map pick, with the time zone handled automatically.
The zenith — the point straight overhead that instant — is uniquely fixed by time and place. Using the same standard transforms that planetarium and telescope software use, we convert clock time into local sidereal time and combine it with latitude to place the zenith exactly in the celestial coordinate system (right ascension and declination).
The library is HYG v4.1: 107,838 real stars merged from Hipparcos, Gliese, Yale and other genuine catalogs, covering all 88 IAU constellations, each with J2000 coordinates, magnitude, distance and spectral type. The system measures the angular separation from the zenith to every star and picks the nearest one still unnamed — on a tie, the closer to Earth wins. Deterministic rules, no human touch.
The preview shows the star’s catalog ID, coordinates, distance and 3D sky position — nothing reserved, nothing held; look before you decide. When you are ready, give the star a memorial name and one line of dedication and complete the purchase — only then does the name bind to the star.
Payment instantly creates your star page, a 3D night sky, and a certificate PDF. The certificate carries the HYG catalog ID, J2000 coordinates, distance and a QR code straight to the page. Type the coordinates into Stellarium or any sky-chart app and you will find the same star — the coordinates are real, so the memorial holds up.
HYG v4.1: 107,838 real stars across all 88 IAU constellations — no fictional listings, no pick-and-choose chart.
Sidereal-time and zenith transforms are the same standard ones planetariums use; identical inputs always yield the same star, reproducible at any time.
Every star ships with J2000 right ascension and declination you can locate in third-party apps like Stellarium — we never ask you to take our word for it.
The name is commemorative: the IAU recognizes no commercial naming, and we say so plainly instead of dressing it up as “official.”
The name is commemorative: the IAU recognizes no commercial naming, and we never dress it up as “officially registered.” But the coordinates you receive are real — a genuine catalog, a genuine ID, independently verifiable. One more thing, just as plain: this is a memorial site — no shutdown is planned, and none is intended; the way we run it is for it to carry on. Memorial pages have no expiry date, no subscription, no renewal. The star is real, the name is symbolic — we say so from the first page to the last line.
Read more: real stars and symbolic names