Dover, NH's night sky, measured from orbit

Satellite radiance puts Dover in the suburban edge band. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. Dover's sky is brighter than 16.6% of the 3,206 cities in this dataset.

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 Dover

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Somersworth, NH, roughly 5 miles away in a straight line, rated rural. Road distance will be more.

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

How Dover compares nationally

Dover, NH counts roughly 33,909 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Dover places 529 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.