“Star Light, Star Bright, first star I see tonight . . .”
American Nursery Rhyme, late 19th century
A way to relate to the stars that is fun and astronomically accurate, presented by Kevin Kopchynski and Jack Megas.
Did you ever wish you had a star that could be connected to your birthday or another special day? We are here to help you find it.
On the day you were born the sun was in a certain position against the background of stars. We can’t see this because of the bright daytime sky, but it appeared near other stars. The Star of Your Birth will be a star aligned with the sun on that day. We will use stars of magnitude 4.8 or brighter. This matches the innate brightness of the sun and is also still visible even in light polluted skies. Here is an example:
The sun as it would appear on June 13 if the sky did not block the stars. Taurus is to the lower right, Gemini is to the upper left. The sun is leaving Taurus and will soon be in Gemini.
By exploring this site you can find the star for your special date, astronomy and folklore related to it, and some gift ideas. We hope that you will be inspired to go to a local star club, science museum, and get out to see them soon. A good observer can help get you to at least close to the actual position of “your” star.
Please note: this is NOT a site to “buy” or “name” a star. You will share this star, known by its official name(s), with anyone else having interest in the same date. We are pointing out to you the position of the sun and the star on the date of interest, and we do offer some gift ideas. Nothing on this site changes the designation of the star or how it is known to astronomers.
We are now in our beginning phases and we are continually adding dates. Our goal is to stay at least half a month ahead of the current date, until content has been added covering the entire year. If you are looking for a date more than a month from now, we invite you to return a little closer to that time. If you really need to see it sooner, send a comment and we will do our best to help you.