How dark is the sky in Machesney Park, IL?

Machesney Park's sky measures urban here. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. Only 89.7% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Machesney Park.

Worth remembering: this is satellite radiance, not a ground observation. A true Bortle rating needs a human eye at night, this is the closest large-scale substitute.

How far Machesney Park is from a meaningfully darker sky

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Loves Park, IL, roughly 2 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

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

Machesney Park against the rest of the dataset

Machesney Park, IL has a population of about 22,839, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Among all 3,206 cities here, Machesney Park ranks 2,861 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.