What the night sky looks like over Big Lake, MN

Big Lake reads as suburban edge on this dataset's scale. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. That's brighter than 21.3% of the 3,206 US 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.

Where to go for a darker sky near Big Lake

Otsego, MN, about 8 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the dark sky band, one step darker than Big Lake. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Big Lake against the rest of the dataset

Big Lake, MN counts roughly 12,855 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Among all 3,206 cities here, Big Lake ranks 681 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.