What the night sky looks like over North Chicago, IL

Satellite radiance puts North Chicago in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 82.8% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than North Chicago.

The number comes from orbit, not a stargazer's logbook, so treat it as an estimate of sky glow rather than a certified Bortle class.

How far North Chicago is from a meaningfully darker sky

6 miles from North Chicago, straight-line, sits Lake Forest, IL, the nearest city here with a darker sky than North Chicago's own suburban band.

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

North Chicago against the rest of the dataset

North Chicago, IL has a population of about 30,639, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Among all 3,206 cities here, North Chicago ranks 2,641 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.