Poplar Bluff, MO Night Sky Brightness
Poplar Bluff, MO's night sky, measured from orbit
Satellite radiance puts Poplar Bluff in the urban band. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. That's brighter than 90.9% of the 3,206 US 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, explained in the Bortle scale guide.
How far Poplar Bluff is from a meaningfully darker sky
The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Kennett, MO, roughly 41 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban. Road distance will be more.
Kennett, MO is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.
How Poplar Bluff compares nationally
Poplar Bluff, MO has a population of about 16,177, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Poplar Bluff's position, 2,899 of 3,206, darkest to brightest, comes from the sampling method the methodology guide sets out.