Stargaze Atlas

Boston, MA — light pollution & stargazing across the metro

Massachusetts · Very poor — city glow · 128 towns · 4,791,641 people in this light dome

The Boston, MA light dome covers 128 towns and about 4,791,641 people rated together, reading roughly Bortle 9 — a inner-city sky (very poor — city glow) — at Boston itself, measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights. The darkest edge of this same dome is Duxbury, about 30 mi out, at roughly Bortle 4. Tonight's Moon phase, cloud cover, and aurora odds load live below, computed in your browser.

Stargazing at the Boston core tonight

Light-pollution reading — dome core Boston, MA · VIIRS 2024
Estimated Bortle class (core)
9 of 9

Inner-city sky.

VIIRS radiance (core)
158 nW/cm²/sr
Naked-eye limiting mag. (core)
under 4.1
Darkest edge of this dome
Duxbury · B4 · 30 mi

What you can see from the Boston core

Only the Moon, the bright planets, and a scattering of the very brightest stars pierce the glow. For real stargazing you'll want to drive to a darker site.

At an estimated Bortle 9, the faintest stars visible from Boston itself on a clear, moonless night run to about magnitude 4.0 or brighter, and the Milky Way is not visible. Duxbury is a regional drive away (30 mi) and improves to roughly Bortle 4.

Of the 128 towns rated in this dome, most read Bortle 6 (51 towns) — spread across 6 darkness classes overall. Beyond Boston itself, Lowell, Cambridge, Dorchester round out the largest towns sharing this same light dome.

The sky from 42.4°N

Declination above +47.6° never sets here, and below −47.6° never rises — no matter how clear the night or how long you wait.

Geometric, from 42.358°N, 71.060°W. How these are computed.

Every town in this light dome, darkest first

All 128 towns inside Boston's ~35-mile dome, each with its own measured reading.

Boston metro towns, darkest sky first.
Town State Bortle Sky Radiance
Duxbury MA 4 Rural / suburban transition 2.8
Westford MA 4 Rural / suburban transition 2.9
Norwell MA 5 Suburban sky 3.2
Cumberland RI 5 Suburban sky 3.3
Windham NH 5 Suburban sky 3.8
Hull MA 5 Suburban sky 3.8
Easton MA 5 Suburban sky 3.9
Acton MA 5 Suburban sky 3.9
Sudbury MA 5 Suburban sky 4.1
Weston MA 5 Suburban sky 4.1
Northbridge MA 5 Suburban sky 4.9
Kingston MA 5 Suburban sky 4.9
Hanson MA 5 Suburban sky 4.9
Beverly Cove MA 5 Suburban sky 5.0
Medway MA 5 Suburban sky 5.0
Grafton MA 5 Suburban sky 5.1
Holliston MA 5 Suburban sky 5.2
Norfolk MA 5 Suburban sky 5.2
Chelmsford MA 5 Suburban sky 5.8
Wayland MA 5 Suburban sky 5.8
North Reading MA 5 Suburban sky 6.1
Westwood MA 5 Suburban sky 6.3
Lynnfield MA 5 Suburban sky 6.3
Tyngsboro MA 5 Suburban sky 6.9
Raynham MA 5 Suburban sky 7.4
Concord MA 5 Suburban sky 7.6
Salem NH 5 Suburban sky 7.8
Newton MA 6 Bright suburban sky 8.7
Milton MA 6 Bright suburban sky 8.7
Abington MA 6 Bright suburban sky 8.9
Pelham NH 6 Bright suburban sky 9.1
Natick MA 6 Bright suburban sky 9.6
Wrentham MA 6 Bright suburban sky 9.9
Marblehead MA 6 Bright suburban sky 10
Weymouth MA 6 Bright suburban sky 10
East Bridgewater MA 6 Bright suburban sky 11
Hanover MA 6 Bright suburban sky 11
South Peabody MA 6 Bright suburban sky 11
Wilmington MA 6 Bright suburban sky 11
Danvers MA 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Maynard MA 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Norton MA 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Swampscott MA 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Tewksbury MA 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Shrewsbury MA 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Ashland MA 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Saugus MA 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Bedford MA 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Whitman MA 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Lexington MA 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Winthrop MA 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Holbrook MA 6 Bright suburban sky 14
North Andover MA 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Wellesley MA 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Stoughton MA 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Franklin MA 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Methuen MA 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Rockland MA 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Dedham MA 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Dracut MA 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Newburyport MA 6 Bright suburban sky 16
North Attleborough Center MA 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Newtonville MA 6 Bright suburban sky 16
West Roxbury MA 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Billerica MA 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Needham MA 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Winchester MA 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Canton MA 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Stoneham MA 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Marlborough MA 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Belmont MA 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Randolph MA 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Hudson MA 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Woburn MA 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Arlington MA 6 Bright suburban sky 19
Burlington MA 6 Bright suburban sky 19
Middleborough MA 6 Bright suburban sky 19
Melrose MA 6 Bright suburban sky 20
Milford MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Framingham Center MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Gloucester MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Reading MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Woonsocket RI 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Mansfield MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Suffolk Downs Station MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Chestnut Hill MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Beverly MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Roslindale MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Wakefield MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Watertown MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Attleboro MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Braintree MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Orient Heights MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Brighton MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Hyde Park MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Norwood MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
Salem MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
Haverhill MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Taunton MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Ashmont MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Brookline MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 35
Mattapan MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Winter Hill MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Framingham MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Lowell MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Peabody MA 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Medford MA 8 City sky 41
Dorchester MA 8 City sky 41
Somerville MA 8 City sky 42
Cambridge MA 8 City sky 43
Waltham MA 8 City sky 43
Nashua NH 8 City sky 45
Revere MA 8 City sky 48
Malden MA 8 City sky 50
Brockton MA 8 City sky 51
Allston MA 8 City sky 59
Mission Hill MA 8 City sky 59
Quincy MA 8 City sky 62
Everett MA 8 City sky 62
East Boston MA 8 City sky 63
Lawrence MA 8 City sky 66
Lynn MA 8 City sky 67
East Cambridge MA 8 City sky 68
Roxbury Crossing MA 8 City sky 76
Chelsea MA 8 City sky 86
Charlestown MA 8 City sky 91
Back Bay MA 9 Inner-city sky 113
Boston MA 9 Inner-city sky 158

Certified dark-sky destinations near Boston

None of the 92 certified International Dark Sky Places sit within about 250 miles of Boston. The darkest option inside this same metro is Duxbury, about 30 mi out.

Other light domes near Boston

Worcester, MA (39 mi, core Bortle 9) , Providence, RI (41 mi, core Bortle 9) , and Springfield, MA (80 mi, core Bortle 9) are the closest other metro-scale domes tracked here — each with its own core reading and its own darkest edge.

Frequently asked questions

Can you see the Milky Way from Boston?
Not from Boston itself — at about Bortle 9 the dome is too bright. The darkest edge of the same metro is Duxbury, about 30 mi out at roughly Bortle 4.
How dark is the sky across the Boston metro?
It varies by how close you are to the core. Boston itself reads about Bortle 9; the 128 towns in this light dome range down to Duxbury at roughly Bortle 4, about 30 mi from the core. The table above sorts every town in the metro by measured darkness.
Where's the nearest certified dark-sky destination to Boston?
None of the 92 certified International Dark Sky Places sit within about 250 miles of Boston — the nearest genuinely darker option is Duxbury within the metro itself.
How to read this rating

A satellite proxy, not a survey-grade reading. Sources and limits.

More in Massachusetts

All Massachusetts towns · Bortle scale · Tonight's Moon · Dark-sky map