Stargaze Atlas

Dallas, TX — light pollution & stargazing across the metro

Texas · Very poor — city glow · 60 towns · 6,092,033 people in this light dome

The Dallas, TX light dome covers 60 towns and about 6,092,033 people rated together, reading roughly Bortle 9 — a inner-city sky (very poor — city glow) — at Dallas itself, measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights. The darkest edge of this same dome is Flower Mound, about 23 mi out, at roughly Bortle 5. The nearest certified dark-sky destination is Horseshoe Bay, about 180 mi away. Tonight's Moon phase, cloud cover, and aurora odds load live below, computed in your browser.

Stargazing at the Dallas core tonight

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

Inner-city sky.

VIIRS radiance (core)
167 nW/cm²/sr
Naked-eye limiting mag. (core)
under 4.1
Darkest edge of this dome
Flower Mound · B5 · 23 mi

What you can see from the Dallas 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 Dallas itself on a clear, moonless night run to about magnitude 4.0 or brighter, and the Milky Way is not visible. Flower Mound is a regional drive away (23 mi) and improves to roughly Bortle 5.

Of the 60 towns rated in this dome, most read Bortle 8 (26 towns) — spread across 5 darkness classes overall. Beyond Dallas itself, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano round out the largest towns sharing this same light dome.

The sky from 32.8°N

Declination above +57.2° never sets here, and below −57.2° never rises — no matter how clear the night or how long you wait.

Geometric, from 32.783°N, 96.807°W. How these are computed.

Every town in this light dome, darkest first

All 60 towns inside Dallas's ~35-mile dome, each with its own measured reading.

Dallas metro towns, darkest sky first.
Town State Bortle Sky Radiance
Flower Mound TX 5 Suburban sky 7.9
Highland Village TX 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Rendon TX 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Seagoville TX 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Lancaster TX 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Glenn Heights TX 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Forney TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Cedar Hill TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Red Oak TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Trophy Club TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Corinth TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
The Colony TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Midlothian TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Watauga TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Hurst TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Fairview TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Royse City TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
The Trails of Frisco TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Sachse TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Waxahachie TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Rockwall TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Mansfield TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Terrell TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Forest Hill TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 35
Prosper TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 35
DeSoto TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 35
Burleson TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 35
North Richland Hills TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Ennis TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Haltom City TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Duncanville TX 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Frisco TX 8 City sky 40
Mesquite TX 8 City sky 42
Fort Worth TX 8 City sky 43
McKinney TX 8 City sky 46
Keller TX 8 City sky 47
Wylie TX 8 City sky 47
Colleyville TX 8 City sky 48
Little Elm TX 8 City sky 48
Balch Springs TX 8 City sky 48
Rowlett TX 8 City sky 49
Saginaw TX 8 City sky 54
Garland TX 8 City sky 55
Euless TX 8 City sky 57
Carrollton TX 8 City sky 59
Grand Prairie TX 8 City sky 61
Southlake TX 8 City sky 61
Murphy TX 8 City sky 62
Irving TX 8 City sky 64
Lewisville TX 8 City sky 67
Farmers Branch TX 8 City sky 70
Bedford TX 8 City sky 75
Allen TX 8 City sky 75
Richardson TX 8 City sky 76
Coppell TX 8 City sky 80
Plano TX 8 City sky 92
Grapevine TX 8 City sky 98
Arlington TX 9 Inner-city sky 109
Addison TX 9 Inner-city sky 128
Dallas TX 9 Inner-city sky 167

Certified dark-sky destinations near Dallas

Certified International Dark Sky Places within reach of Dallas — nearest first.
PlaceDesignationDistance
Horseshoe Bay Dark Sky Community 180 mi
Copper Breaks State Park Dark Sky Park 195 mi
Dripping Springs Dark Sky Community 195 mi
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area Dark Sky Park 195 mi
South Llano River State Park Dark Sky Park 240 mi

Other light domes near Dallas

Austin, TX (180 mi, core Bortle 9) , Houston, TX (225 mi, core Bortle 9) , and New Orleans, LA (440 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 Dallas?
Not from Dallas itself — at about Bortle 9 the dome is too bright. The darkest edge of the same metro is Flower Mound, about 23 mi out at roughly Bortle 5, or drive to the certified Horseshoe Bay (180 mi) for a genuinely dark sky.
How dark is the sky across the Dallas metro?
It varies by how close you are to the core. Dallas itself reads about Bortle 9; the 60 towns in this light dome range down to Flower Mound at roughly Bortle 5, about 23 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 Dallas?
Horseshoe Bay (Dark Sky Community), about 180 mi away.
How to read this rating

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

More in Texas

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