What the night sky looks like over Decatur, IL

Satellite radiance puts Decatur in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 79.6% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Decatur.

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 Decatur is from a meaningfully darker sky

Lincoln, IL, about 31 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Decatur. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Decatur against the rest of the dataset

Decatur, IL has a population of about 68,763, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Among all 3,206 cities here, Decatur ranks 2,538 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.