A star for my husband

Name a star for someone special on the Intergalactic Star Database.

Husbands are a particular kind of difficult to buy for. Ask what he wants and the answer is "nothing", which is rarely the whole truth. A star gives him a name you have thought about, a sheet of proper numbers to pore over, and a reason to go and stand in the garden with binoculars.

For the man who reads the small print

Plenty of gifts fall apart if you look at them closely. This one has more detail the closer you get. From November 2026 each star we register comes from the Hipparcos catalogue, compiled from a European Space Agency satellite that measured stars from 1989 to 1993. His certificate will carry a HIP number, and anyone can check a HIP number by typing it into planetarium software or a star-chart app.

The Star Area Co-ordinates Sheet is the part he will spend longest on. It gives:

• Right Ascension and Declination, the star's address on the sky, like longitude and latitude on a map.
• Magnitude, how bright it looks from Earth, on a scale that runs backwards.
• B-V, the number astronomers use for a star's colour.
• An Altitude graph of how high it stands at 10pm on each night of the year, seen from the UK.
• A Chart View of the neighbouring stars, with grid squares 5 degrees across, about the width of three fingers at arm's length.

Our guide to the sheet explains each line, should he ask. If he is the sort who looks things up, tell him the honest part before he finds it: the name is recorded in the Intergalactic Star Database, and the International Astronomical Union, which decides official star names, doesn't recognise names from any commercial registry. He is getting a real star and a name you picked, not a line in a scientific catalogue.

What to call it

You have up to 60 characters. We print exactly what you type, so a star can be as dignified or as daft as your marriage is.

• Plain and proud: "Andrew James Fletcher".
• The title he has earned: "Captain Dave, Master of the Barbecue".
• The affectionate dig: "Mr Always Five More Minutes".
• The romantic one, for when he least expects it: "The Best Thing I Ever Said Yes To".
• The dated one: "Andy and Jo, married 21 May 2011".
• The one from the children: "Our Dad, Chief Spider Remover".

Before you pay, try it on the certificate preview. A posted pack is printed as typed, and a name typed wrongly on a posted pack is not reprinted free of charge, so it is worth a second look. Our guide to choosing a name has plenty more.

Two ways to give it, and when each makes sense

The posted gift pack at £13.99 is the one to choose when you want something to hand over. We print the four documents (the Certificate of Registry, the co-ordinates sheet, a welcome letter and a fold-out star chart) and Royal Mail usually has them on their way within 24 hours, in a full-colour gift envelope, with UK delivery included. Have it sent to a friend or to your work if he is the one who collects the post, and open it before he sees it so you can check the name and write in the card.

The print-at-home star at £8.99 is the one for the night before. Your star's page opens as soon as you've paid, with every document ready. Ordinary A4 paper works, thicker card makes a better certificate, and you can print in colour or black and white. Five minutes at the printer while he is in the shower and nobody need know how close you cut it. Our last-minute guide covers this in more detail.

Either way, it suits a wedding anniversary, a birthday, Christmas or Father's Day, if he has earned that one as well.

A reason to get him outside

Finding the star is a small project, and small projects are often what husbands want from a present. Enter the Database Number on our star finder and the star's page shows whether it is above the horizon, the best time to see it that night, how high it will be and which way to face. It works this out for London, or for wherever you are if you share your location.

Most of our stars need binoculars, and any ordinary pair will do. If he hasn't got one, that takes care of the second half of the present. Give him the sheet and the job of working out the route: it will keep him busy for a whole evening. Start with the fold-out chart to find the constellation, whose brighter stars show up by eye, then use the Chart View to home in. Get as far from street lights as you can, and avoid nights around the full Moon. If he catches the bug, Galloway Forest Park, Exmoor and Northumberland are recognised dark sky places, and a weekend away to one of them is next year's present sorted. When each star is best seen from the UK.

Questions about giving your husband a star