Wheeling, IL's night sky, measured from orbit

Satellite radiance puts Wheeling in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 80.2% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Wheeling.

Note the source: a satellite reading of upward light, not a visual Bortle scale reading. The two measure related but different things.

The nearest darker sky to Wheeling

Prospect Heights, IL, about 2 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Wheeling. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

Prospect Heights, 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 Wheeling compares nationally

Wheeling, IL counts roughly 38,329 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Wheeling places 2,558 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.