The sky on the day you were born
A star map for your date, time and city, with the Moon's phase, the Japanese zodiac year in kanji and the day's microseason from Japan's 72-season calendar.
Free watermarked preview. Positions are calculated, not illustrated. Nothing you type is saved.
Your sky
Get the print-ready files
The finished print comes as vector PDFs in four sizes (A4, US Letter, 8 × 10 in and A3) and 300 dpi PNGs, without the watermark, in the color you choose. It is made to order in our Etsy shop.
Digital download only: nothing is shipped. Print at home or at a local print shop.
How it's made
This is a calculated keepsake, not a horoscope or psychic reading. It does not predict anything.
Stars. About 5,000 stars down to magnitude 6.0 from the Yale Bright Star Catalogue (5th revised edition, Hoffleit & Warren). Each star is moved by its proper motion to your date and corrected for precession, nutation and aberration, then placed for your city and time. Constellation lines follow Marc van der Sluys's Constellation Lines (CC BY 4.0).
Moon and planets. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn come from Swiss Ephemeris tables; the Moon is shown as seen from your city. We check these positions against Swiss Ephemeris to within a few thousandths of a degree. Heights are geometric: no atmospheric refraction is added.
The map. The circle is the whole sky above the horizon, drawn in a stereographic projection with the zenith at the center, north at the top and east on the left. The two faint rings mark 30° and 60° above the horizon.
Japanese calendar. The zodiac year (for example 丙午, Hinoe-Uma, Fire Horse) changes at Risshun, the start of spring. The microseason and solar term are those of your date in the Japanese calendar, from our almanac engine checked against the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The Moon's age counts days since the last new moon.
Places and time. Cities and coordinates come from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); local time follows IANA time zone rules (2026d), including historical daylight saving time.
AI. The English text on this page and on the print, including the translations of the 72 microseasons, was written with AI assistance. The positions and calendar values are calculated by our software, not generated by AI.
Lettering on the print uses Cormorant Garamond and Noto Serif JP (SIL Open Font License).
Questions
What if I don't know the time?
Leave the time blank. The map then shows the sky at 9:00 PM local time on that date, and the print says so in small type. The Moon's phase, the zodiac year and the microseason are still for that date.
Why are east and west swapped?
The map is drawn as if you were lying on your back looking straight up, with north at the top. Seen from below, east is on the left and west is on the right, the same as a planisphere. The center of the circle is the point directly overhead and the edge is the horizon.
Why does the Japanese zodiac year change in early February?
The year of the traditional Japanese calendar used here begins at Risshun, the start of spring, around February 4. Someone born in January belongs to the previous year's sign. With a birth time, we compare it with the exact moment of Risshun.
What is a microseason?
Japan's old almanac divides the year into 24 solar terms and 72 microseasons of about five days each, each named after a small change in nature, such as “Earthworms surface.” The print shows the one that includes your date, in the Japanese calendar.
Is this a horoscope or a psychic reading?
No. It is a calculated keepsake: the positions of the stars, the Moon and the planets, and the traditional calendar for that date. It makes no predictions.
Do you keep what I type?
No. The date, time and city are sent only to calculate the sky and are not stored. The name and message never leave your device; the preview is drawn in your browser. Usage counts record only that a preview was made.