Sycamore, IL's night sky, measured from orbit

Sycamore 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. That's brighter than 25% of the 3,206 US 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.

How far Sycamore is from a meaningfully darker sky

Campton Hills, IL, about 14 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the rural band, one step darker than Sycamore. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

Campton 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.

How Sycamore compares nationally

About 18,968 people live in Sycamore, IL, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Sycamore places 798 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.