What the night sky looks like over Novato, CA

Novato reads as suburban edge on this dataset's scale. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. That's brighter than 16.3% of the 3,206 US cities in this dataset.

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.

The nearest darker sky to Novato

7 miles from Novato, straight-line, sits San Anselmo, CA, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Novato's own suburban edge band.

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

Novato against the rest of the dataset

About 52,311 people live in Novato, CA, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Among all 3,206 cities here, Novato ranks 520 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.