Spencer, IA's night sky, measured from orbit

Spencer reads as suburban edge on this dataset's scale. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. Spencer's sky is brighter than 34.8% 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.

Where to go for a darker sky near Spencer

123 miles from Spencer, straight-line, sits Grimes, IA, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Spencer's own suburban edge band.

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

How Spencer compares nationally

Spencer, IA has a population of about 11,418, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Spencer places 1,111 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.