You worked for it, and the sky was there when you crossed the stage. A graduation star map draws the real sky for your ceremony: the date, the time and your campus’s city.
Make your star map · Prefer to have it made for you? See it on Etsy
Which moment should you pick?
- The ceremony. Use the start time printed in the program.
- The evening celebration. If you had a dinner or a party that night, that’s another moment worth mapping.
- The day your last exam ended. A fun, personal choice.
Not sure of the hour? Leave it blank. If you leave the time blank, the map uses 12 noon in the selected place (local clock time, daylight saving included for that place and year), and says so. If your ceremony was in the daytime, the map draws stars as if the sky were dark, so the Sun appears among them.
Which place?
Pick the city where you graduated. If your campus is outside a big city, choose the nearest one from the list.
What to write
A short caption looks best. Some ideas:
- “Class of 2027”
- “Done. Onward.”
- Your name and your degree
- The school’s name and the year
- A line from a favorite professor, or an inside joke from your friends
For the grad in your life
A graduation star map is an easy gift for a parent, a partner or a friend to make. It’s personal and quick, and you choose a style and add your own words. You might pair it with a map of the night they were born. One shows the sky they began under, and the other shows the sky on the day they finished. There’s more about that on our night I was born page.
How the map is made
The map is drawn from astronomical calculations of the real sky for the date, time and place you give. The preview is computed in your browser, and nothing you enter into it is sent or stored. If you save or share an image, it includes the details you leave on it. If you order through Etsy, you submit your personalization there so the map can be made.
Questions people ask
Can I make one for a ceremony that’s already happened? Yes. The map works for any date between 1900 and 2100, so past graduations are just as easy.
What if I graduated at night? Choose the time of your night ceremony to map the stars above the local horizon. Turn on the Moon and planets to include those above the horizon at that moment.
Can I add my degree and school? Yes. There’s a title, a names field and a short line of your own, so you can add a degree, a class year or the school’s name.
What happens to my details? The preview runs in your browser, so nothing you type into it is sent or stored. If you order through Etsy, you submit your personalization there. If you save or share an image, it includes the details you leave on it.
Make yours
Choose the date, add your name and see the sky on your big day.
Make your star map · Prefer to have it made for you? See it on Etsy
You’ll add your names, date, time and place in the personalization box on Etsy.
Related: The night I was born · New home star maps · Star map gift ideas
