Asheville, NC's night sky, measured from orbit

Satellite radiance puts Asheville in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 50% of the 3,206 US cities in this dataset.

Note the source: a satellite reading of upward light, not a visual Bortle scale reading. The two measure related but different things.

How far Asheville is from a meaningfully darker sky

Waynesville, NC, about 26 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Asheville. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

Waynesville, NC is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.

How Asheville compares nationally

Asheville, NC counts roughly 94,992 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Asheville places 1,596 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.