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The dark-sky atlas

Where the night is still dark.

Every dark-sky place with its estimated sky, the Milky Way month by month, the clouds, the Moon, meteors, eclipses and auroras — and where to sleep under it.

The darkest skiesTypes of placeMap

Calculating the sky…

Tonight's sky over Mount Pico · Portugal

3,937places known
1,427sky guides
173countries
7languages

The scale of darkness

Nine skies, one scale.

Astronomers grade the night from 1 (pristine) to 9 (inner city) — the Bortle scale. Each step drawn with the stars you would see, and a place from the atlas that has that sky.

  1. 1Excellent dark sky≥ 21.89 · stars to mag 7.6Pitcairn Islands
  2. 2Truly dark sky21.69–21.89 · stars to mag 7.1Caspian Sea
  3. 3Rural sky21.25–21.69 · stars to mag 6.6Hortobágy National Park
  4. 4Rural–suburban transition20.49–21.25 · stars to mag 6.1Borrego Springs
  5. 5Suburban sky19.50–20.49 · stars to mag 5.6Flagstaff
  6. 6Bright suburban sky18.94–19.50 · stars to mag 5.1Fulda
  7. 7Suburban–urban transition18.38–18.94 · stars to mag 4.6Einstein Tower
  8. 8City sky17.80–18.38 · stars to mag 4.1Pulkovo Observatory
  9. 9Inner-city sky< 17.80 · stars to mag 3.6Royal Observatory

Places to look up

Choose your night.

Certified parks and reserves, the darkest corners, mountains above the haze, deserts, islands, lakes and canyons, auroras and eclipse paths.

Certified dark-sky placesParks, reserves and sanctuaries protected from light105 placesThe darkest skiesBortle 1–2: the sky as it was everywhere1,057 placesWhere the Milky Way rises highThe galactic core 30° up or more599 placesMountains and volcanoesAbove the haze, with open horizons458 placesDesertsDry air, empty land, clear nights108 placesIslands and coastsFar from the mainland glow294 placesLakes under the starsStars twice: above and in the water171 placesCanyonsDeep walls that hide the towns54 placesNorthern and southern lightsUnder or near the auroral oval231 placesOn the path of an eclipseCountries on a total eclipse path to 2035381 places

Observatories and planetariums

A different experience: telescopes, domes and the sky indoors.

ObservatoriesTelescopes, domes and open nights230 placesPlanetariumsThe sky indoors, rain or shine7 places

This month

The best skies in January

Places where this is one of the best months: long dark nights, clearer skies, the Milky Way up.

2Bortle93mountainOuanoukrimMoroccoMorocco21.87 mag/arcsec² · Best month1Bortle92desertGrand Erg OccidentalAlgeriaAlgeria21.90 mag/arcsec² · Best month2Bortle92mountainJbel ToubkalMoroccoMorocco21.86 mag/arcsec² · Best month1Bortle91mountainNat Ma TaungMyanmarMyanmar21.89 mag/arcsec² · Best month1Bortle91desertAlgerian DesertAlgeriaAlgeria21.90 mag/arcsec² · Best month1Bortle90desertErg TiffernineAlgeriaAlgeria21.89 mag/arcsec² · Best month1Bortle90mountainBarbeau PeakCanadaCanada21.90 mag/arcsec² · Best month2Bortle90lakeLake TanaEthiopiaEthiopia21.88 mag/arcsec² · Best month

All the best skies for January

Ranking

The ten darkest.

By estimated sky brightness at the zenith, with no Moon and no clouds.

11Bortle78Pitcairn IslandsUnited Kingdom21.90mag/arcsec²21Bortle94SaharaMali21.90mag/arcsec²31Bortle81Wood Buffalo National ParkCanada21.90mag/arcsec²41Bortle85Lake TanganyikaZambia21.90mag/arcsec²51Bortle79FunafutiTuvalu21.90mag/arcsec²61Bortle87Gobi DesertChina21.90mag/arcsec²71Bortle79SakhalinRussia21.90mag/arcsec²81Bortle71Jan MayenNorway21.90mag/arcsec²91Bortle86SocotraYemen21.90mag/arcsec²101Bortle82K2Pakistan21.90mag/arcsec²

The full ranking

The Earth at night

Where the light is.

The lights of the planet seen from space by NASA, and our places on top: the dark ones live in the gaps.

Night-time lights of the Earth (NASA Black Marble 2016)
NASA Earth Observatory, Black Marble 2016 (Suomi NPP VIIRS). Points: Darkskyas places (pink) and observatories (violet).

Open the interactive map

Coming up

Eclipses ahead.

Solar eclipses with their countries, and the lunar eclipses — seen from wherever the Moon is up.

  1. 6Feb 2027Annular solar eclipsepath across Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, CI, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria
  2. 2Aug 2027Total solar eclipsepath across Spain, GI, Morocco, Algeria, TN, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia
  3. 12Jan 2028Partial lunar eclipse seen wherever the Moon is up at 04:13 UTC
  4. 26Jan 2028Annular solar eclipsepath across Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Spain, Portugal
  5. 6Jul 2028Partial lunar eclipse seen wherever the Moon is up at 18:20 UTC
  6. 22Jul 2028Total solar eclipsepath across Australia, New Zealand
  7. 31Dec 2028Total lunar eclipse seen wherever the Moon is up at 16:51 UTC
  8. 26Jun 2029Total lunar eclipse seen wherever the Moon is up at 03:22 UTC

All eclipses and meteor showers

By country

Where the dark skies are.

United States151Canada68Russia68China55Chile43United Kingdom41Australia39France32Japan31Greece29Iceland27Pakistan25Argentina24Germany24Spain24Italy21Indonesia20Nepal20Faroe Islands18Kazakhstan18New Zealand17Peru17Norway16Austria15All countries

Where the numbers come from

Calculated, not guessed.

Every number on Darkskyas comes from public, citable data and classical astronomy. The sky brightness is our own model built on NASA's night-lights map and checked against 18 measured sites; the page always says it is an estimate.

All the sources and licences

  • NASA Black Marblenight-time lights, the base of the sky-brightness model
  • NASA POWERcloud amount and temperature, month by month
  • Copernicus DEMthe relief: horizon and altitude
  • Wikidatanames, types, certifications, photos
  • OpenStreetMapcampsites, stays, viewpoints, observatories nearby

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.You are here
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit