What the night sky looks like over Riverdale, IL

Satellite radiance puts Riverdale in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 77.5% 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.

How far Riverdale is from a meaningfully darker sky

Palos Hills, IL, about 11 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Riverdale. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Riverdale against the rest of the dataset

About 10,299 people live in Riverdale, IL, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Among all 3,206 cities here, Riverdale ranks 2,470 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.