Hawthorne, NJ Night Sky Brightness
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, explained in the Bortle scale guide.
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's position, 1,588 of 3,206, darkest to brightest, comes from the sampling method the methodology guide sets out.