What the night sky looks like over Plainview, TX

Satellite radiance puts Plainview in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 46.3% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Plainview.

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 Plainview is from a meaningfully darker sky

Canyon, TX, about 56 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Plainview. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Plainview against the rest of the dataset

About 19,429 people live in Plainview, TX, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Among all 3,206 cities here, Plainview ranks 1,478 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.