Nightward / Cities / Addis Ababa
Star map of Addis Ababa — the night sky over Addis Ababa, on your date
Addis Ababa sits almost on the equator, which is the best seat on Earth: nearly every constellation rises from here at some point in the year. Pick the night that matters and we draw the sky exactly as it stood above Addis Ababa — 9.03°N, 38.75°E — at that hour.
Design your Addis Ababa star map — from $29 Free to preview. Nothing to install.
What the sky over Addis Ababa is actually like
Addis Ababa stands at 9.03°N, and latitude is the thing that decides which half of the sky you are allowed to see at all. From here nothing stays up permanently — everything rises and sets. From Addis Ababa almost nothing is permanently out of reach, which is unusual and worth knowing. That is why the city matters on a star map and is not simply a caption under it.
- Latitude. 9.03°N — close to the equator, where very nearly the whole sky comes into view at some point in the year
- Rises and sets from here: Orion, the Plough (Ursa Major), Cassiopeia, Cygnus (the Northern Cross), Scorpius, the Southern Cross (Crux), Gemini.
- Darkest it gets in midsummer: a good 8.8 hours of true darkness even on the shortest night
- Passes closest to straight overhead: Orion, about 10° off the zenith
These are computed, not written: the same star positions the card itself is drawn from, evaluated for Addis Ababa's latitude. Change the city on your card and the sky really does change.
When the sky over Addis Ababa is actually dark
A good 8.8 hours of true darkness even on the shortest night. Astronomical night — the point where the Sun is far enough below the horizon that the faint stars come out — is what decides whether a sky is worth looking at, and it depends entirely on how far from the equator you are. It does not change what goes on your card: the map is computed for the moment you choose whether or not anyone could have stood outside and seen it. It is simply worth knowing about your own city.
Why the date matters as much as the place
Place decides which stars you can ever see; date and time decide where they were standing. The sky over Addis Ababa on a January evening is not the sky over Addis Ababa in July — the Earth has moved a long way round the Sun in between, and the same constellations rise hours earlier. That is why a star map of a particular night is a keepsake rather than a poster: it is only that sky if the moment is right.
Make one for Addis Ababa
- Pick the moment. The date, the hour, and Addis Ababa — or anywhere else on Earth.
- Choose the occasion. Each one is its own designed sky.
- Make it yours. Names, a message, your own words.
- Download and print. A 3000×4200 file — a clean 10×14″ print.
Occasions people make Addis Ababa star maps for
- Anniversaries in Addis Ababa
- Weddings in Addis Ababa
- Newborns in Addis Ababa
- Birthdays in Addis Ababa
- Memorials in Addis Ababa
- Travel in Addis Ababa
- Graduations in Addis Ababa
- Fresh starts in Addis Ababa
Questions people ask
- Can I get a star map for Addis Ababa on any date?
- Yes — any date, any time, anywhere on Earth. Give us the moment and we compute where every visible star actually stood above Addis Ababa, the same calculation an observatory runs, pointed backwards.
- Is the sky over Addis Ababa really different from other cities?
- Genuinely, yes. Addis Ababa sits at 9.03°N, and latitude decides which part of the sky you can ever see. From Addis Ababa almost nothing is permanently out of reach, which is unusual and worth knowing.
- Do I need the exact time?
- No. If you only remember the evening, use something like 21:00 — the sky over one night barely turns between 20:00 and 22:00 at the scale this prints. If you know the hour, use it.
- What do I actually receive?
- A 3000×4200 print file — a clean 10×14″ print at 300dpi. You print it, so there is no shipping and nothing arrives late.
Start your Addis Ababa star map