Find My Star

If you're looking to find your star in the night sky, the first thing you'll need is your star's celestial coordinates. These are two numbers that tell you where the star is located in the sky. The first number is called the right ascension (RA), and it tells you how far east the star is from the point directly overhead. The second number is called the declination (Dec), and it tells you how far north or south the star is from the celestial equator. You will find your star coordinates on your certificate.

If you're not familiar with celestial coordinates, don't worry! Here's a quick analogy to help you understand.

Imagine you're standing on a beach, looking out at the ocean. The celestial equator is like the horizon, and the right ascension and declination of a star are like the latitude and longitude of a boat on the ocean. The RA tells you how far east the boat is from you, and the Dec tells you how far north or south the boat is from the horizon.

Now that you know what celestial coordinates are, you can use them to find your star in the night sky. There are a few different ways to do this, but here's one easy way:

• Use the star map provided and look up your star's RA and Dec
• Find the location of the star on the star map.
• Go outside on a clear night and look for the star in the sky.

If you're having trouble finding your star, here are a few tips:

• Use a stargazing app on our site or download the free mobile software: eternalstarnames.com/starsoftware
• If you’ve got a constellation listed on your certificate, look for the star in the same constellation.
• Be patient! It may take a few minutes to find your star, especially if it is faint.

Once you've found your star, take a moment to appreciate it. It's a special star, after all!

A Few Additional Things to Keep in Mind The celestial coordinates of stars change over time due to the wobble of the Earth. This means that the star map you use may not be 100% accurate.

The stars themselves are also moving, but very slowly. This means that the location of your star in the night sky will not change significantly over your lifetime.

Enjoy the search! Finding your star can be a fun and rewarding experience.