What the night sky looks like over Charlotte, NC

Charlotte reads as urban on this dataset's scale. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. Charlotte's sky is brighter than 95.4% 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 Charlotte is from a meaningfully darker sky

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Pineville, NC, roughly 9 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban. Road distance will be more.

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

Charlotte against the rest of the dataset

Charlotte, NC counts roughly 943,476 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Among all 3,206 cities here, Charlotte ranks 3,042 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.