Stargaze Atlas

El Dorado, AR — light pollution & stargazing

Arkansas · Very poor — city glow · population 18,386

El Dorado, Arkansas has a light-pollution rating of about Bortle 8 — a city sky (very poor — city glow) — measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights at 46 nW/cm²/sr at the town center. The sky is bright enough to read by. Only the Moon, the planets, and the few brightest stars and clusters are visible — the constellations lose most of their fainter stars. The nearest genuinely darker skies are around Camden, AR (about 28 mi away, Bortle 7). Tonight's Moon phase, cloud cover, and aurora odds load live below, computed in your browser. This is a satellite upward-radiance proxy for planning, not a survey-grade sky-brightness measurement.

Stargazing in El Dorado tonight

Light-pollution reading El Dorado, AR · VIIRS 2024
Estimated Bortle class
8 of 9

City sky. A satellite upward-radiance proxy for planning — not a survey-grade sky-brightness reading.

VIIRS radiance (town center)
46 nW/cm²/sr
Naked-eye limiting mag.
4.1–4.5
Milky Way
not visible

What you can see from El Dorado

The sky is bright enough to read by. Only the Moon, the planets, and the few brightest stars and clusters are visible — the constellations lose most of their fainter stars.

Darker skies within reach

The nearest town in each darker class — your ladder from El Dorado's sky toward truly dark skies.

Nearer, darker towns from El Dorado — nearest first.
Town State Bortle Sky Drive
Camden AR 7 Suburban / urban transition 28 mi
Malvern AR 6 Bright suburban sky 80 mi
Byram MS 5 Suburban sky 160 mi
Carriere MS 4 Rural / suburban transition 250 mi

Frequently asked questions

Can you see the Milky Way from El Dorado, AR?
Not really. At about Bortle 8 the Milky Way is not visible from El Dorado — the sky is too light-polluted. The nearest genuinely dark skies are around Camden, AR, about 28 mi away.
How dark is the sky in El Dorado?
El Dorado rates a city sky — about Bortle 8, with a naked-eye limiting magnitude around 4.1–4.5. That comes from a VIIRS satellite night-lights reading of 46 nW/cm²/sr at the town center. It is a satellite proxy for planning, not a survey-grade measurement.
Where is the nearest dark sky to El Dorado?
The nearest town with genuinely darker skies is Camden, AR — about 28 mi away at roughly Bortle 7. See the "darker skies within reach" list on this page for more options.
Can I see the aurora from El Dorado tonight?
It depends on tonight's space weather. The live panel on this page reads the current NOAA aurora forecast for your latitude, along with cloud cover and the Moon — most U.S. locations only see aurora during strong geomagnetic storms.
How to read this rating

The darkness rating is measured from VIIRS satellite night-lights at the town center and is a proxy for planning, not a survey-grade sky-brightness measurement — and the darkest skies are usually a short drive out of any town. Tonight's Moon, cloud, and aurora figures are live third-party forecasts that can change. See the methodology for sources and limits.

More in Arkansas

See every town's darkness rating in Arkansas, learn to read the Bortle scale, or check tonight's Moon phase.