Cortland, NY's night sky, measured from orbit

Satellite radiance puts Cortland in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 56.2% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Cortland.

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

The nearest darker sky to Cortland

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Ithaca, NY, roughly 20 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

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

How Cortland compares nationally

About 17,459 people live in Cortland, NY, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Cortland places 1,793 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.