Over the last few years, Star Maps have become a unique and popular addition to the wall décor market. It’s not hard to see why. There is little in this world more magical, awe-inspiring, or romantic than the night sky.
When our graphic designers at IPIC were brainstorming designs for our collection, we knew we had to distinguish ourselves from the crowd. What could we do to stand out in the star maps space?
Firstly, it was of the utmost importance to us to get the basics right, namely the accuracy of the star maps themselves. Because no matter how beautiful a design is, the image would be worthless if it didn’t accurately depict the stars above a certain date and time. Selling inaccurate star maps would undermine our integrity.
We meticulously researched how star maps are created and how these images are sourced. The stars above us move constantly at every moment of the day, so it is vital to establish an accurate way to picture the sky above a specific date and time (And not just the position of the stars, but also the position of the Milky Way Galaxy that is included in most of our star map designs!) After scouring the internet, we found various sources that could be used reliably.* After cross referencing the main websites we’ll use and running several tests for consistency, we even consulted an astronomy expert to make sure the procedure we follow to collect the data would be sound. All so we can confidently present our star maps for your consideration.
Finally - and this is true for all of our items, not just our Star Maps - we offer various fine art printing options using our state of the art giclée printing technology, which we also use for our museum quality art history reproductions to capture every brush stroke and subtle color field. You can print on archival canvas, paper, or even metal. Our items are handmade in the USA by our trained craftsmen. You can order it stretched over canvas bars or framed beautifully and ready to hang. Or you may opt to order it rolled up and unframed (perhaps for a special DIY framing project.) Let your imagination run wild!
So we invite you to reminisce on how the stars just perfectly aligned (literally and figuratively) on your special night with our customizable star map! Put your names and the day you said ‘I Do,’ welcomed a new baby in the family, bought a new house, or any other memorable occasion.
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*The background images reflecting the unique position of the milky way on your special day is obtained from a third party website and based on a Digitized Sky Survey sourced from STScI/NASA, colored & Healpixed by CDS, produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute under U.S. Government grant NAG W-2166. The images of these surveys are based on photographic data obtained using the Oschin Schmidt Telescope on Palomar Mountain and the UK Schmidt Telescope. The plates were processed into the present compressed digital form with the permission of these institutions. Stars are plotted using “The Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Edition” The Virtual Telescope uses the definitive Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Star Catalogue [SAO: 1966], updated to epoch J2000.0 and corrected by Roman and Warren in 1990.
