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Heavens Above! - a constellations map of the stars in the Northern sky

Heavens Above! - a constellations map of the stars in the Northern sky

Regular price £37.00
Regular price Sale price £37.00
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digital image

Heavens Above! It's a map of the stars, a painting of the constellations of the northern sky, the hemisphere boreal.

At the very centre is Polaris - the Pole star in the tail of Ursa Minor (the Little Bear), so what you're seeing is a view of the heavens as seen from the North Pole.

  • An original painting in watercolour, size 730mm x 520mm
  • Digital file for you to make a single print at a format and size of your choice

A map of the stars

The map of the stars includes all the zodiac constellations and many others such as Ursa Major, Draco and Pegasus - as well one or two surprises! Five of the brightest stars in order of magnitude are shown: Arcturus (in Boötes - the ploughman or herdsman), Vega (in Lyra - the harp), Capella (in Auriga - the charioteer), Altair (in Aquila - the eagle) and Aldebaran (in Taurus - the bull).

I have always been intrigued by antique star charts by people like Johannes Hevelius, Reiner Ottens, and Sidney Hall who published the profoundly beautiful Urania's Mirror in 1824. I'm not ashamed to say that I raided their back-catalogue! It's important to learn from the masters, after all.

The painting began simply as a way for me to learn about what's up there and an excuse to paint a lot of stars with white ink, but it soon took on a life of it's own. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that for all the heroes from Greek mythology wheeling around up there, the underlying themes were discovery and the human need to make sense of our place in the cosmos; in a word, science.

So why is David Bowie 'floating in a most peculiar way' playing Ziggy's guitar? What's Apollo 11 doing there? What's with the Space Shuttle? Why two Endeavours? And why are East and West the wrong way around? If you want to know more you'll have to read this blog...

Discover more about this painting!

Want to know more about astronomy? Here's the ultimate beginner's guide!

Shipping and delivery

This website takes orders from UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Denmark, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

If you are not in these countries and you would like to make a purchase, please get in touch with me directly.

Posting your order

Typically, orders for physical products placed after 12pm on Friday, and on Saturday or Sunday will not be posted until Monday at the earliest. I use Royal Mail to dispatch your order.

If you have ordered multiple items, I will try to post everything together. Occasionally, this is not possible, in which case they will be dispatched in separate packages.

Digital files will typically be transferred to customers within 24 hours via email using WeTransfer, the file transfer website.

Buying an original painting? Please choose the tracked option!

UNITED KINGDOM (incl. Channel Islands, Isle of Man)

  • UK Royal Mail second class – 3 to 5 working days (can be longer at busy times of year)
  • UK Royal Mail tracked next day special delivery – next day by 1pm

If you choose a tracked delivery, I will be notified with your Royal Mail tracking number when your parcel has been dispatched.

INTERNATIONAL ORDERS

IMPORTANT! All international orders are shipped duties unpaid. Orders shipped outside of the UK may be subject to customs, taxes and duties. This cost is the responsibility of the customer and is payable on receipt of goods. Please check your local customs tax and duty costs as duties must be paid before the goods are released.

USA and CANADA
Royal Mail International Tracked service (7-14 days)

AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND
Royal Mail International Tracked service (7-14 days)

EUROPE (Rep of Ireland, France, Germany and Denmark only)
Royal Mail International Tracked service (7-14 days)

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