Minneapolis, MN — light pollution & stargazing
Minneapolis, Minnesota has a light-pollution rating of about Bortle 9 — a inner-city sky (very poor — city glow) — measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights at 164 nW/cm²/sr at the town center. 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. The nearest genuinely darker skies are around Longfellow Community, MN (about 3 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 Minneapolis tonight
- Estimated Bortle class
- 9 of 9
- VIIRS radiance (town center)
- 164 nW/cm²/sr
- Naked-eye limiting mag.
- under 4.1
- Milky Way
- not visible
Inner-city sky. A satellite upward-radiance proxy for planning — not a survey-grade sky-brightness reading.
What you can see from Minneapolis
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.
Darker skies within reach
The nearest town in each darker class — your ladder from Minneapolis's sky toward truly dark skies.
| Town | State | Bortle | Sky | Drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longfellow Community | MN | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 3 mi |
| Golden Valley | MN | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 5 mi |
| Brooklyn Center | MN | 8 | City sky | 7 mi |
| Minnetonka Mills | MN | 5 | Suburban sky | 9 mi |
| Lino Lakes | MN | 4 | Rural / suburban transition | 15 mi |
Frequently asked questions
- Can you see the Milky Way from Minneapolis, MN?
- Not really. At about Bortle 9 the Milky Way is not visible from Minneapolis — the sky is too light-polluted. The nearest genuinely dark skies are around Longfellow Community, MN, about 3 mi away.
- How dark is the sky in Minneapolis?
- Minneapolis rates a inner-city sky — about Bortle 9, with a naked-eye limiting magnitude around under 4.1. That comes from a VIIRS satellite night-lights reading of 164 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 Minneapolis?
- The nearest town with genuinely darker skies is Longfellow Community, MN — about 3 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 Minneapolis 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.
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 Minnesota
See every town's darkness rating in Minnesota, learn to read the Bortle scale, or check tonight's Moon phase.