What the night sky looks like over Rutherford, NJ

Rutherford reads as urban on this dataset's scale. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. Rutherford's sky is brighter than 86.1% of the 3,206 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 Rutherford is from a meaningfully darker sky

Wood-Ridge, NJ, about 2 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban band, one step darker than Rutherford. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Rutherford against the rest of the dataset

Rutherford, NJ counts roughly 19,214 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Among all 3,206 cities here, Rutherford ranks 2,745 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.