There are a number of ways to measure how much light pollution affects a given location (SQM, NELM), but my personal favorite way to gauge the quality of a location is the Bortle scale. These colors represent the amount of artificial light in the area, and how bright the night sky will look.Ī light pollution map showing the location of my backyard
One of the easiest ways to identify the brightness of your night sky is to use the Bortle scale.Ī light pollution map will show that a large city radiates white to red from the center, and rural areas will appear green to blue. You may have noticed that amateur astronomers and astrophotographers will often describe their sky quality reading when posting pictures or discussing observations.
