Location library
Where to look up
Every location page carries the same Night Engine: how dark it gets month by month, how often the sky is clear, when the Milky Way core is up — and a live verdict for tonight from those coordinates.
Dark sky sites
Bortle 1–3. The places where the Milky Way is the brightest thing in the sky.
- Death ValleyCalifornia, USA · Bortle 2 — excellent dark skyOne of the darkest and driest places in the United States. Plan around heat, not cloud.
- Grand CanyonArizona, USA · Bortle 2 — excellent dark skyBortle 2 at 2,100 m, with the summer monsoon as the one thing that can ruin a trip.
- Joshua TreeCalifornia, USA · Bortle 3 — rural skyThe best dark sky within reach of Los Angeles — bring a plan for the light dome to the west.
- Big BendTexas, USA · Bortle 1 — pristineThe darkest measured sky in the contiguous United States.
- Cherry SpringsPennsylvania, USA · Bortle 2 — excellent dark skyThe East Coast's flagship dark site — sky quality excellent, cloud statistics not.
- Mauna KeaHawaii, USA · Bortle 2 — excellent dark skyThe best professional observing site on the planet — and altitude you must respect.
- Atacama DesertChile · Bortle 1 — pristineThe driest desert on Earth. Some sites average over 300 clear nights a year.
- La PalmaCanary Islands · Bortle 2 — excellent dark skyEurope's best sky: above the inversion layer, legally protected, and clear most nights.
- Teide, TenerifeCanary Islands · Bortle 3 — rural skyA dark, high plateau you can drive to in an hour from a beach hotel.
- NamibRandNamibia · Bortle 1 — pristineAfrica's first Dark Sky Reserve, and among the darkest skies measured anywhere.
- Aoraki MackenzieSouth Island, New Zealand · Bortle 2 — excellent dark skyThe southern hemisphere's most accessible dark sky reserve, with the Magellanic Clouds circumpolar.
- UluruNorthern Territory, Australia · Bortle 1 — pristineDesert-centre darkness with the galactic core passing straight overhead in winter.
- AbiskoSwedish Lapland · Bortle 2 — excellent dark skyThe 'blue hole' of Lapland: statistically the clearest aurora site in Scandinavia.
- JasperAlberta, Canada · Bortle 2 — excellent dark skyThe world's second-largest dark sky preserve, with aurora on top of the mountains.
- SedonaArizona, USA · Bortle 3 — rural skyAn International Dark Sky Community with red-rock foregrounds and dry desert air.
Cities
Bright skies with real options: what still works, and where to drive when it does not.
- OsloNorway · Bortle 8 — city skyA bright city with dark country half an hour away — and no real darkness in summer.
- TromsøNorthern Norway · Bortle 7 — suburban/urban transitionThe aurora capital: two months of no night at all, then four months of almost nothing else.
- BergenWestern Norway · Bortle 7 — suburban/urban transitionNorway's wettest city. Judge nights here by cloud first and everything else second.
- ReykjavíkIceland · Bortle 7 — suburban/urban transitionAurora from the edge of town, but only between September and April.
- LondonEngland · Bortle 9 — inner-city skyBortle 9. The Moon, planets and the ISS still work; nothing fainter does.
- New York CityNew York, USA · Bortle 9 — inner-city skyGreat planet city, hopeless deep-sky city — the escape is two hours west.
- Los AngelesCalifornia, USA · Bortle 9 — inner-city skyThe clearest big-city weather in America, wrapped in the worst light dome.
- ChicagoIllinois, USA · Bortle 9 — inner-city skyCold, clear winter nights are the city's real observing season.
- KirunaSwedish Lapland · Bortle 5 — suburban skyInland Arctic weather beats coastal weather — even with a mining town's lights.
Aurora country
Under or near the auroral oval, where the season matters more than the forecast.
- TromsøNorthern Norway · Bortle 7 — suburban/urban transitionThe aurora capital: two months of no night at all, then four months of almost nothing else.
- ReykjavíkIceland · Bortle 7 — suburban/urban transitionAurora from the edge of town, but only between September and April.
- AbiskoSwedish Lapland · Bortle 2 — excellent dark skyThe 'blue hole' of Lapland: statistically the clearest aurora site in Scandinavia.
- KirunaSwedish Lapland · Bortle 5 — suburban skyInland Arctic weather beats coastal weather — even with a mining town's lights.
- JasperAlberta, Canada · Bortle 2 — excellent dark skyThe world's second-largest dark sky preserve, with aurora on top of the mountains.
Somewhere else?
The engine works for any coordinates on Earth. Set your own location and get the same analysis for tonight on the front page — or read how the Night Engine works.