What the night sky looks like over Columbus, OH

Columbus 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. That's brighter than 97.5% 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 Columbus

3 miles from Columbus, straight-line, sits Bexley, OH, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Columbus's own urban band.

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

Columbus against the rest of the dataset

Columbus, OH has a population of about 933,263, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Among all 3,206 cities here, Columbus ranks 3,109 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.