Beckley, WV's night sky, measured from orbit

Satellite radiance puts Beckley in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 52.9% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Beckley.

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

How far Beckley is from a meaningfully darker sky

South Charleston, WV, about 49 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Beckley. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How Beckley compares nationally

Beckley, WV has a population of about 16,515, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Beckley places 1,687 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.