Stargaze Atlas

Connecticut dark-sky map — light pollution by town

79 towns rated · darkest: Mansfield City · measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights

Connecticut has 79 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — Mansfield City (Bortle 4) — to its brightest city cores, with 6 rating as genuinely dark or rural sky (Bortle 4 or better). Every town is listed with the nearest measurably darker town to drive to. No site in the state holds an International Dark Sky Place certification, so its darkest skies are the rural towns at the top of the table. Ratings are a VIIRS satellite proxy, not survey-grade sky-brightness readings.

Statewide Connecticut · VIIRS 2024
Towns rated
79

4 rate as genuinely dark or rural sky (about Bortle 4 or better).

Darkest town
Mansfield City
Genuinely dark towns
4
Certified dark-sky places
0

Nearest certified dark-sky places to Connecticut

No site in Connecticut holds an International Dark Sky Place certification. Measured from Mansfield City, the state's darkest rated town, these are the nearest certified destinations — all 92 are on the map.

Nearest certified International Dark Sky Places to Mansfield City, Connecticut.
Place Designation State From Mansfield City
Cherry Springs State Park Dark Sky Park Pennsylvania 290 mi
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument Dark Sky Sanctuary Maine 340 mi
James River State Park Dark Sky Park Virginia 450 mi

All Connecticut towns by darkness

Darkest sky first, each with the nearest measurably darker town to drive to. Sort or filter below.

Connecticut towns, darkest sky first.
Sky Nearest darker sky
Mansfield City 4 Rural / suburban transition 0.8 already the darkest nearby
Montville Center 4 Rural / suburban transition 0.8 already the darkest nearby
Windham 4 Rural / suburban transition 1.7 already the darkest nearby
Stafford 4 Rural / suburban transition 2.2 already the darkest nearby
Oxford 5 Suburban sky 3.1 Manorville, NY — B4, 42 mi
Plymouth 5 Suburban sky 3.6 Mansfield City — B4, 43 mi
Ledyard 5 Suburban sky 3.7 Montville Center — B4, 8 mi
South Windsor 5 Suburban sky 4.0 Mansfield City — B4, 20 mi
Tolland 5 Suburban sky 4.6 Stafford — B4, 9 mi
Ellington 5 Suburban sky 4.8 Stafford — B4, 11 mi
Farmington 5 Suburban sky 4.9 Mansfield City — B4, 31 mi
Orange 5 Suburban sky 4.9 Manorville, NY — B4, 30 mi
West Torrington 5 Suburban sky 5.0 Stafford — B4, 45 mi
Wilton 5 Suburban sky 5.3 Woodbury, NY — B4, 37 mi
Waterford 5 Suburban sky 6.8 Montville Center — B4, 10 mi
New Fairfield 5 Suburban sky 6.9 Woodbury, NY — B4, 33 mi
Madison 5 Suburban sky 7.7 Montville Center — B4, 27 mi
Cromwell 5 Suburban sky 7.9 Mansfield City — B4, 24 mi
Killingly Center 5 Suburban sky 7.9 Coventry, RI — B4, 14 mi
North Branford 6 Bright suburban sky 8.0 Madison — B5, 9 mi
Enfield 6 Bright suburban sky 9.0 Longmeadow, MA — B5, 5 mi
Guilford 6 Bright suburban sky 9.8 Madison — B5, 4 mi
Wolcott 6 Bright suburban sky 10 Plymouth — B5, 6 mi
Avon 6 Bright suburban sky 10 Farmington — B5, 6 mi
Trumbull 6 Bright suburban sky 11 Orange — B5, 9 mi
Cheshire 6 Bright suburban sky 11 Oxford — B5, 12 mi
Seymour 6 Bright suburban sky 11 Oxford — B5, 3 mi
Old Saybrook 6 Bright suburban sky 11 Madison — B5, 12 mi
Southington 6 Bright suburban sky 11 Farmington — B5, 9 mi
Hamden 6 Bright suburban sky 11 Orange — B5, 11 mi
Plainfield 6 Bright suburban sky 12 Killingly Center — B5, 12 mi
Naugatuck 6 Bright suburban sky 12 Oxford — B5, 5 mi
Windsor 6 Bright suburban sky 13 South Windsor — B5, 2 mi
Windsor Locks 6 Bright suburban sky 13 South Windsor — B5, 7 mi
New Canaan 6 Bright suburban sky 13 Wilton — B5, 5 mi
Wethersfield 6 Bright suburban sky 14 South Windsor — B5, 8 mi
Glastonbury 6 Bright suburban sky 14 South Windsor — B5, 8 mi
Bloomfield 6 Bright suburban sky 15 South Windsor — B5, 6 mi
Bristol 6 Bright suburban sky 15 Plymouth — B5, 5 mi
Southbury 6 Bright suburban sky 15 Oxford — B5, 6 mi
Branford 6 Bright suburban sky 16 Orange — B5, 11 mi
Westport 6 Bright suburban sky 16 Wilton — B5, 6 mi
Willimantic 6 Bright suburban sky 17 Windham — B4, 3 mi
Darien 6 Bright suburban sky 17 Wilton — B5, 8 mi
Newington 6 Bright suburban sky 17 Farmington — B5, 6 mi
Wallingford Center 6 Bright suburban sky 18 Cromwell — B5, 14 mi
Norwich 6 Bright suburban sky 18 Montville Center — B4, 5 mi
North Haven 6 Bright suburban sky 18 Orange — B5, 12 mi
Fairfield 6 Bright suburban sky 18 Wilton — B5, 10 mi
Stratford 6 Bright suburban sky 20 Orange — B5, 9 mi
Shelton 7 Suburban / urban transition 20 Orange — B5, 4 mi
Plainville 7 Suburban / urban transition 22 Farmington — B5, 3 mi
East Norwalk 7 Suburban / urban transition 22 Westport — B6, 3 mi
Torrington 7 Suburban / urban transition 22 West Torrington — B5, 2 mi
Meriden 7 Suburban / urban transition 22 Southington — B6, 5 mi
West Haven 7 Suburban / urban transition 22 Orange — B5, 4 mi
East Haven 7 Suburban / urban transition 23 Branford — B6, 3 mi
Wallingford 7 Suburban / urban transition 25 Wallingford Center — B6, 1 mi
Milford 7 Suburban / urban transition 26 Orange — B5, 4 mi
East Hartford 7 Suburban / urban transition 26 South Windsor — B5, 3 mi
Derby 7 Suburban / urban transition 26 Orange — B5, 4 mi
City of Milford 7 Suburban / urban transition 27 Orange — B5, 4 mi
Ansonia 7 Suburban / urban transition 29 Seymour — B6, 4 mi
Manchester 7 Suburban / urban transition 30 South Windsor — B5, 6 mi
Greenwich 7 Suburban / urban transition 33 Scarsdale, NY — B6, 8 mi
New Britain 7 Suburban / urban transition 34 Newington — B6, 4 mi
Norwalk 7 Suburban / urban transition 35 Westport — B6, 3 mi
West Hartford 7 Suburban / urban transition 37 Bloomfield — B6, 5 mi
Danbury 7 Suburban / urban transition 37 New Fairfield — B5, 5 mi
Middletown 8 City sky 43 Cromwell — B5, 2 mi
Storrs 8 City sky 45 Mansfield City — B4, 3 mi
Waterbury 8 City sky 49 Wolcott — B6, 5 mi
New London 8 City sky 62 Waterford — B5, 2 mi
Hartford 8 City sky 83 West Hartford — B7, 3 mi
Bridgeport 8 City sky 86 Stratford — B6, 3 mi
New Haven 9 Inner-city sky 103 West Haven — B7, 3 mi
Stamford 9 Inner-city sky 108 Darien — B6, 4 mi
Winchester Center 3 Rural sky 0.3 already the darkest nearby
North Stamford 4 Rural / suburban transition 2.2 already the darkest nearby

Frequently asked questions

Where are the darkest skies in Connecticut?
The darkest town tracked here is Mansfield City. Sort the table on this page by darkness to see the full ranking, from the most rural, star-filled skies down to the brightest city cores.
How many dark-sky towns does Connecticut have?
Of 79 towns rated here, 6 rate as genuinely dark or rural sky (about Bortle 4 or better) — good for seeing the Milky Way on a clear, moonless night.
How are these light-pollution ratings measured?
From VIIRS 2024 annual-average satellite night-lights, sampled at each town's center and mapped to a darkness class and an estimated Bortle band. It is a satellite upward-radiance proxy for planning, not a survey-grade sky-brightness reading. See the methodology page for details.

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Bortle scale · Meteor showers · Dark-sky map · Search all towns