Stargazing
Stargazing and light pollution by city
Pick a city for its Bortle class, Milky Way visibility and tonight's conditions — or find the darkest skies near you.
Browse by country
The darkest skies we cover
Cities ranked by estimated Bortle class — the lower the number, the darker the sky.
- Lake Tekapo, South Island Bortle 2
- Uluru (Yulara), Northern Territory Bortle 2
- Churchill, Manitoba Bortle 3
- Marfa, Texas Bortle 3
- Ely, Minnesota Bortle 3
- Jasper, Alberta Bortle 3
- Moab, Utah Bortle 3
- Iqaluit, Nunavut Bortle 3
- Wānaka, South Island Bortle 3
- Lake Placid, New York Bortle 4
- Gatlinburg, Tennessee Bortle 4
- Keswick, England Bortle 4
- Bar Harbor, Maine Bortle 4
- Taos, New Mexico Bortle 4
- Lihue, Hawaii Bortle 4
- Montpelier, Vermont Bortle 4
- Banff, Alberta Bortle 4
- Cody, Wyoming Bortle 4
- Fort William, Scotland Bortle 4
- Jackson, Wyoming Bortle 4
- Pierre, South Dakota Bortle 4
- Whistler, British Columbia Bortle 4
- Broome, Western Australia Bortle 4
- Broken Hill, New South Wales Bortle 4
- Marquette, Michigan Bortle 4
- Elko, Nevada Bortle 4
- Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Bortle 4
- Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Bortle 4
- Kalispell, Montana Bortle 4
- Alice Springs, Northern Territory Bortle 4
- Whitehorse, Yukon Bortle 4
- Kalgoorlie, Western Australia Bortle 4
- Queenstown, South Island Bortle 4
- Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca Bortle 4
- Juneau, Alaska Bortle 4
- Fairbanks, Alaska Bortle 4
- Laramie, Wyoming Bortle 4
- Cedar City, Utah Bortle 4
- Hilo, Hawaii Bortle 4
- Roswell, New Mexico Bortle 4
What the Bortle scale means
The Bortle scale runs from 1 (a pristine, star-filled sky far from any town) to 9 (an inner-city sky where only the Moon, planets and a handful of stars break through). It captures how much artificial light washes out the night. Most city centres sit at 8–9; a dark-sky reserve might be a 1 or 2.
Our estimate is based on each place's size and surroundings. It describes the city centre — drive 30–60 minutes away from a big city and the sky often improves by two or three classes, which is why the "darkest near you" links on each page are worth following.