Light Pollution Map

About Light Pollution Map

Light Pollution Map is a free interactive map for stargazers, astrophotographers and anyone curious how dark the sky is where they live or plan to travel. It draws on satellite night-light data to show artificial skyglow worldwide, from heavily lit cities to remote rural areas.

Clicking any point on the map returns the Bortle Scale class and an approximate SQM reading for that location. Users can also search for a place, browse nearby stargazing spots, and layer on certified dark sky places, an aurora probability forecast and a day/night terminator to plan a night out.

Its main difference is that it turns raw satellite brightness into a readable sky rating without needing a physical sky quality meter. The site also explains how to use the readings for Milky Way viewing, meteor showers and night photography.