What the night sky looks like over Bethlehem, PA

Satellite radiance puts Bethlehem in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Bethlehem's sky is brighter than 63.6% of the 3,206 cities in this dataset.

The number comes from orbit, not a stargazer's logbook, so treat it as an estimate of sky glow rather than a certified Bortle class.

How far Bethlehem is from a meaningfully darker sky

32 miles from Bethlehem, straight-line, sits Hackettstown, NJ, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Bethlehem's own suburban band.

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

Bethlehem against the rest of the dataset

Bethlehem, PA counts roughly 79,453 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Among all 3,206 cities here, Bethlehem ranks 2,027 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.