As we enter the 2021 holiday season it’s time to start thinking of gifts for friends and family.
Here we bring you our giant list of astronomy gifts for space lovers and stargazers to give you ideas from cheap stocking fillers to top-of-the-line smart telescopes.
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Personalized Night Sky Star Map
A great gift is a personalized print based on how the night sky looked from a specific location and date.
This is perfect for someone who might want to mark a special occasion like a wedding, the birth of a child, or the day someone was born.
You enter the location plus time and date and it creates a unique image of the night sky from that particular moment in time. You can then customize the message written on the print as well as various styling options around the color and borders etc.
This is a great personal gift for space lovers.
NASA Socks
EVERYBODY loves socks for Christmas, it’s a known fact!
Get your space-loving dad or boyfriend a pair of these NASA socks, rather than the plain black ones you were originally going for.
Astronomy Binoculars
For something more exciting, think about a pair of astronomy binoculars.
Smaller and more portable than telescopes they make a great alternative that not everyone would consider. They are perfect for casual use as you can just grab-and-go into your backyard or wherever and start scanning the skies with no fuss.
These are the 7×50 Celestron Cometron Astronomy Binoculars. The 7 refers to the magnification and the 50 refers to the size of the lenses.
This pair are perfect for handheld use and observing the skies to watch events like meteor showers. They also offer good viewing power but are not too expensive.
You can get bigger and more powerful models – see the Best Astronomy Binoculars for more. Binoculars with more than 7x magnification and higher aperture (the size of the lenses) will give you better views of planets and even deep space objects like galaxies but will need to be used with a tripod as they will be too heavy and unsuitable for handheld use.
This model is a great entry-level option for teenagers or adults to get into stargazing in the garden or to take on trips.
2022 Space Calendar
Get ready for 2022 with this space calendar from Astronomy Magazine.
Each month has a stunning image of a different planet, galaxy, or other deep space object, along with educational commentary.
This would make a great gift for someone with a home office. Check prices by clicking the button below but if you want some more options, see our guide to the Best Astronomy & Space Calendars.
Hubble Cosmos Book
This book from National Geographic showcases the best images from the first 25 years of the Hubble space telescope.
It outlines the history of Hubble and what it has revealed about our universe in the time it has been traveling through space.
For other options like this, see our guide to the Best Astronomy Books.
Constellations Wall Art
This wall art presents a map of the constellations that is based on a vintage constellation map from 1849.
It is available in eight size options up to 30×60-inches and it is made of high-quality heavyweight paper.
Check out more items like this in our article on the Best Space & Astronomy Posters.
Levitating Moon Lamp
This cool lunar lamp uses NASA imagery to accurately represent the surface of the moon. What’s even better is that it floats above the stand with no contact – fully levitating!
The base is plugged into the mains and powers the lamp, so needs no extra batteries. It can be bought with US, UK, EU and Australian compatible plugs.
Orion Monocular
Monoculars are small handheld telescopes that can be great for astronomy and even astrophotography, as well as daytime viewing.
They are ultra-compact, light, and easy to use. This means that they have many advantages over telescopes and binoculars, particularly when traveling.
The Orion 10-25×42 Zoom Waterproof Monocular is ultra-compact and perfect for popping into your bag or pocket when going on a trip.
If you want to see more options, see our article on the Best Monoculars for Stargazing.
Space Shuttle Rocket Launch Lamp
This 3D Space Shuttle Lamp is a perfect gift for a space-loving kid.
It can work as a night light for a young child, or a desk lamp for an older kid.
It’s available in two different rocket launch designs and is charged via a USB connection.
NASA Augmented Reality Notebook
This NASA Augmented Reality Notebook is a pretty cool space gift.
Firstly, it’s a genuinely usable notebook, and then second, when you download the free accompanying app for your smartphone and it interacts with the book to give you interactive content relating to space, the solar system, and NASA exploration.
Celestron Travel Telescope
The Celestron Travel Scope 80 is the perfect portable telescope.
This is an all-in-one package so that you can just buy in one and throw it in the car and have all you need to get going quickly when traveling. It includes the tripod, backpack, smartphone adapter for photography and all lenses and eyepieces needed.
It is easily set up with no tools needed and packs away quickly into the provided backpack. Not just for travel, it’s a great option if you want a telescope around the house that you know packs up well for easy storage but is also easy to grab and get going if you want to take it out into the backyard.
Check prices below. If you want more information, see our article on the Best Portable & Travel Telescopes.
Retro NASA T-Shirt
NASA tees are worn by all the coolest stargazers.
This retro edition brings something different from the standard NASA logo version and makes a great gift for a space lover.
Heat Changing Constellation Mug
Another good stocking filler or Secret Santa gift for an astronomy-enthusiast is this constellation mug that changes appearance when a hot drink goes in.
At first it is a cool starry mug, but when the hot coffee goes in the constellations show up.
A fun, low-budget item!
NASA Cufflinks
The cufflinks are spacey enough to be fun but subtle enough for the office.
These make a great space gift for him and will brighten up the morning routine!
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey DVD
There’s also nothing better for a dark winter’s night on the sofa watching Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.
It’s an inspirational series that takes you through the history of astronomy and contemporary knowledge about space and the universe.
Grab the DVD (or Blueray) boxset from Amazon. There is also an option to buy the downloadable episodes from Amazon Prime Video.
Solar System Planets Gemstone Collection
This is a decorative collection of gemstones made to look like each of the eight planets of the Solar System plus Pluto.
This would make a great desktop piece for a space enthusiast.
Andromeda Galaxy Paperweight
This is a nice desktop gift for a space enthusiast.
It’s a paperweight with the Andromeda galaxy contained within.
Andromeda is the closest galaxy to our galaxy, the Milky Way. It has a distinctive and stunning spiral appearance that you can see inside this glass ornament.
Celstron Ambassador Vintage Telescope
A telescope can be an obvious choice of gift for someone with an interest in astronomy.
This vintage-style telescope, with its brass and mahogany finish, has added style that means it doubles as an eye-catching piece of furniture, rather than just being an average-looking telescope that you want to pack away when not using.
This is a genuine and working telescope from astronomy brand Celestron with 80mm aperture lenses.
It’s not cheap but it is very attractive and would make a fantastic gift for a dad to have in his office or around the house.
Phases Of The Moon 3-Piece Wall Art Set
This classy three-piece canvas wall art set shows the moon in all its monthly phases.
Stellina Smart Telescope
This is something at a completely different price range to most of the things on the list but may interest some people.
This is a new type of smart telescope that has a camera built-in and takes pictures of far-off galaxies at the press of a button through your smartphone.
These have taken the astronomy and astrophotography world by storm by making it significantly easier to take stunning images of objects in space.
You literally unpack it from the box and when turned on it aligns itself and gives you a list of astronomical objects for you to choose to photograph through an app. It then takes the image and sends to your phone for you to share. It’s pretty amazing, but obviously not cheap.
Check prices and availability by clicking the button below nut if you’d like to read more about this telescope and one other similar models see our article on The Best Smart Telescopes (Stellina vs Evscope vs Equinox).
NASA Laptop Bag
Replace your loved ones boring laptop bag with this NASA-themed one.
Solar System Bracelet
A great space stocking-filler for her.
This bracelet features the eight planets of our solar system plus our moon.
NASA Tumbler
Take your water or coffee to work or school in this classy NASA tumbler.
Smithsonian Guide To The Night Sky
This book is great for budding stargazers and astronomers.
Help your loved one learn to pick out the stars, planets, and constellations in the night sky with this book.
See here for other Astronomy Books.
NASA Space Swirl Pencils
A great gift idea for a young space lover are these two-tone space swirl colored pencils that use NASA images.
Earth & Space Coloring Book
Adult coloring books are a great relaxation tool and thought to help relieve anxiety.
This space-themed gift idea features 35 images from NASA archives. It features a full-color NASA photograph with a template to color on the adjacent page.
Glow-In-The-Dark Stars & Planets Throw
This blanket/throw features stars and planets that glow in the dark when the lights are turned off.
It would make a great present for stargazers young and old.
Omegon Star Theater Pro Planetarium
Project the stars onto your ceiling for a cool astronomy experience with the Omegon Star Theater Pro Planetarium Home Projector.
This creates an accurate planetarium in your own home and is not just rotating lights like you might get with cheaper projectors on Amazon.
With this device, you insert discs that have different images of space. Included with this are two discs – one with the Milky Way and one with the Earth, Moon and Sun in rotation. You can buy additional discs for different scenes – there’s even a Star Wars one!
The device is fairly delicate so not one to let a younger child bash around but makes a great sensory experience for a baby but also a relaxing experience for a older child or adult.
Constellation Wine Glasses
These stemless wine glasses that use images of the stars and constellations make a perfect gift for star gazers.
Name A Star Gift
This gift gives you the opportunity to name a star that is, as yet, unnamed from a database.
Take this with a pinch of salt as you don’t legally get to name the star for all eternity, but you get a certificate and lots of people love this as a great gift for a loved one.
Cosmos Kitchen Knives
For anyone who is both an astronomy lover and a keen chef, then these kitchen knives are perfect.
They are embossed with high-quality galactic images and come gift-boxed.
Rocket Ship 3D Illusion Lamp
This 3D lamp in the shape of a space rocket would make for a cool desktop toy for an adult, or a night light for a space loving kid.
LEGO Ideas International Space Station
This advanced LEGO set for adults has 864 different pieces and enables you to put together an accurate model of the International Space Station.
It comes complete with a stand for easy display and makes a great space gift.
This is not a kids toy but rather for grown-ups or children above 16 years.
Piece of Meteorite
Give a real piece of a shooting star that came down from space with this gift set.
Included is a small iron piece of genuine meteorite along with a personalizable certificate for who you are giving it to.
Sionyx Aurora Night Vision Device
Night Vision Astronomy is a growing trend due to the impact of increasing light pollution in towns and cities making it harder to view the stars and planets in the night sky.
Having a digital night vision device like the Sionyx Aurora means you can easily view the sky at night in color from your backyard or balcony.
Other Gift Inspiration
For more gift buying ideas, see our guide to the Best Gifts for Astrophotographers and more in our Holiday Sales & Gift Guides hub.
