River Forest, IL Night Sky Brightness
What the night sky looks like over River Forest, IL
River Forest reads as suburban on this dataset's scale. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 54.3% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than River Forest.
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 Bortle scale guide covers why.
How far River Forest is from a meaningfully darker sky
The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Justice, IL, roughly 10 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.
Justice, IL is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.
River Forest against the rest of the dataset
River Forest, IL has a population of about 11,909, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Among all 3,206 cities here, River Forest ranks 1,730 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured, by the sampling the methodology guide documents.