Lincoln, IL's night sky, measured from orbit

Lincoln's sky measures suburban edge here. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. Lincoln's sky is brighter than 28% 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.

Where to go for a darker sky near Lincoln

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Godfrey, IL, roughly 94 miles away in a straight line, rated dark sky. Road distance will be more.

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

How Lincoln compares nationally

About 13,047 people live in Lincoln, IL, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Lincoln places 892 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.