What the night sky looks like over Rochester, NH

Rochester's sky measures suburban edge here. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. Only 40.6% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Rochester.

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 Rochester is from a meaningfully darker sky

Somersworth, NH, about 5 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the rural band, one step darker than Rochester. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Rochester against the rest of the dataset

About 33,598 people live in Rochester, NH, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Among all 3,206 cities here, Rochester ranks 1,295 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.