In the time it takes to read this sentence, the light from your computer screen will have travelled 2,398,336 kilometers (1,490,256 miles)!
But that's just a tiny fraction of the distance to the nearest stars.
Light travels through space at 299,792 kilometers (186,282 miles) per second. But the stars we see in the night sky are so distant that we use light-years to measure how far away they are.
A light-year is the distance light travels in one year: 9.46 trillion kilometers (5.88 trillion miles)! Even the closest star to us, Proxima Centauri, is 4.2 light-years away, which means it takes 4.2 years for that star's light to reach us on Earth.
Your birthday star is a star whose distance in light-years is the same as your age. The light from your birthday star left that distant star on the day you were born and has taken your entire lifetime to reach your eyes.
Use the table below to determine your birthday star and its magnitude (the lower the magnitude, the brighter the star). Click C to center it in the sky. Some stars will be labeled onscreen with their Hipparcos (HIP) catalog number. As you age, your birthday star changes, so every year you get a new birthday star!
Enjoy finding birthday stars for your family and friends . . . and from all of us at Starry Night: have a happy birthday!
| Age | Birthday star | Mag | |
| 4 | Rigel Kentaurus | C | 0.0 |
| 8 | Lalande 21185 | C | 7.5 |
| 9 | Sirius | C | -1.5 |
| 10 | Epsilon Eridani | C | 3.7 |
| 11 | Procyon | C | 0.4 |
| 12 | Tau Ceti | C | 3.5 |
| 13 | Lacaille 8760 | C | 6.7 |
| 14 | CD-37 15492, HIP439 | C | 8.6 |
| 15 | BD+68 946, HIP86162 | C | 9.2 |
| 16 | Omicron Eridani (Beid) | C | 4.4 |
| 17 | Altair | C | 0.8 |
| 18 | BD+15 2620, HIP67155 | C | 8.5 |
| 19 | Sigma Draconis | C | 4.7 |
| 20 | Delta Pavonis | C | 3.6 |
| 22 | Chi Bootis | C | 4.7 |
| 24 | Beta Hydri | C | 2.8 |
| 25 | Vega | C | 0.0 |
| 26 | Pi3 Orionis | C | 3.2 |
| 27 | Mu Herculis A | C | 3.4 |
| 28 | Zeta Tucanae | C | 4.2 |
| 29 | Deneb Kaitos | C | 3.5 |
| 30 | Delta Eridani | C | 3.5 |
| 31 | 61 Ursae Majoris | C | 5.3 |
| 32 | 12 Ophiuchi | C | 5.8 |
| 33 | Alpha Mensae | C | 5.1 |
| 34 | Pollux | C | 1.2 |
| 35 | Zeta Herculis AB | C | 2.8 |
| 36 | Denebola | C | 2.1 |
| 37 | Arcturus | C | -0.1 |
| 38 | Zeta Doradus | C | 4.7 |
| 39 | Porrima | C | 2.7 |
| 40 | Beta Trianguli Australis | C | 2.8 |
| 41 | Rho1 Cancri | C | 6.0 |
| 42 | Capella | C | 0.1 |
| 43 | 58 Eridani | C | 5.5 |
| 44 | Theta Ursa Majoris | C | 3.2 |
| 45 | Er Rai | C | 3.2 |
| 46 | 26 Draconis | C | 5.3 |
| 47 | Rasalhague | C | 2.1 |
| 48 | Talitha | C | 3.1 |
| 49 | Alderamin | C | 2.4 |
| 50 | Deneb Okab | C | 3.4 |
| 51 | Tau Bootis | C | 4.5 |
| 52 | Castor | C | 1.6 |
| 53 | Alpha Circini | C | 3.1 |
| 54 | Caph | C | 2.3 |
| 55 | 39 Tauri | C | 5.9 |
| 56 | Iota Horologii | C | 5.4 |
| 57 | Alzirr | C | 3.3 |
| 58 | Zosma | C | 2.6 |
| 59 | Iota Centauri | C | 2.8 |
| 60 | Sheratan | C | 2.6 |
| 61 | Menkent | C | 2.0 |
| 62 | Eta Serpentis | C | 3.2 |
| 63 | Rho Puppis | C | 2.8 |
| 64 | Alpha Trianguli | C | 3.4 |
| 65 | Aldebaran | C | 0.8 |
| 66 | Hamal | C | 2.0 |
| 68 | Theta Draconis | C | 4.0 |
| 69 | 40 Leonis | C | 4.8 |
| 70 | Zeta Leporis | C | 3.5 |
| 71 | Alpha Hydri | C | 2.9 |
| 72 | Gienah | C | 2.5 |
| 73 | Unukalhai | C | 2.6 |
| 74 | Upsilon Aquarii | C | 5.2 |
| 75 | Alphecca, Gemma | C | 2.2 |
| 76 | 23 Ursa Majoris | C | 3.6 |
| 77 | Zubenelgenubi | C | 2.8 |
| 78 | Regulus | C | 1.3 |
| 79 | Merak | C | 2.3 |
| 80 | Delta Velorum | C | 1.9 |
| 81 | Alioth | C | 1.8 |
| 82 | Menkalinan | C | 1.9 |
| 83 | Zeta Aquilae A | C | 3.0 |
| 84 | Phecda | C | 2.4 |
| 85 | Seginus | C | 3.0 |
| 86 | Wazn | C | 3.1 |
| 88 | Gacrux | C | 1.6 |
| 89 | Ascella | C | 2.6 |
| 93 | Algol | C | 2.1 |
| 94 | Lambda Geminorum | C | 3.6 |
| 96 | Alnasl | C | 3.0 |
| 97 | Alpheratz | C | 2.1 |
| 98 | Rotanev | C | 3.6 |
| 99 | Ruchbah | C | 2.7 |
| 100 | Altais | C | 3.1 |
| 101 | Alkaid | C | 1.8 |
| 102 | Vindemiatrix | C | 2.8 |
| 105 | Alhena | C | 1.9 |
| 108 | Yed Posterior | C | 3.2 |
| 109 | Algedi (Al Giedi) | C | 3.6 |
| 111 | Miaplacidus | C | 1.7 |
| 112 | Grumium | C | 3.7 |
| 114 | Nusakan | C | 3.7 |
| 117 | Sadal Bari | C | 3.5 |