Hawthorne, NJ's night sky, measured from orbit

Satellite radiance puts Hawthorne in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 49.8% of the 3,206 US 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.

Where to go for a darker sky near Hawthorne

2 miles from Hawthorne, straight-line, sits Glen Rock, NJ, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Hawthorne's own suburban band.

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

How Hawthorne compares nationally

Hawthorne, NJ counts roughly 20,006 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Hawthorne places 1,588 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.