Ridgecrest, CA's night sky, measured from orbit

Ridgecrest's sky measures suburban here. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Ridgecrest's sky is brighter than 67.2% of the 3,206 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.

The nearest darker sky to Ridgecrest

35 miles from Ridgecrest, straight-line, sits California City, CA, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Ridgecrest's own suburban band.

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

How Ridgecrest compares nationally

Ridgecrest, CA counts roughly 28,373 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Ridgecrest places 2,143 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.