Stargaze Atlas

Keene, NH — light pollution & stargazing

New Hampshire · Poor — bright suburban · population 23,265

Keene, New Hampshire has a light-pollution rating of about Bortle 7 — a suburban / urban transition (poor — bright suburban) — measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights at 31 nW/cm²/sr at the town center. The whole sky glows grayish-white. Only the brighter stars, the Moon, the planets, and a handful of the showiest clusters cut through; deep-sky observing is difficult. The nearest genuinely darker skies are around Gardner, MA (about 29 mi away, Bortle 6). 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 Keene tonight

Light-pollution reading Keene, NH · VIIRS 2024
Estimated Bortle class
7 of 9

Suburban / urban transition. A satellite upward-radiance proxy for planning — not a survey-grade sky-brightness reading.

VIIRS radiance (town center)
31 nW/cm²/sr
Naked-eye limiting mag.
4.6–5.0
Milky Way
not visible

What you can see from Keene

The whole sky glows grayish-white. Only the brighter stars, the Moon, the planets, and a handful of the showiest clusters cut through; deep-sky observing is difficult.

Darker skies within reach

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

Nearer, darker towns from Keene — nearest first.
Town State Bortle Sky Drive
Gardner MA 6 Bright suburban sky 29 mi
Claremont NH 5 Suburban sky 31 mi
Westford MA 4 Rural / suburban transition 49 mi

Frequently asked questions

Can you see the Milky Way from Keene, NH?
Not really. At about Bortle 7 the Milky Way is not visible from Keene — the sky is too light-polluted. The nearest genuinely dark skies are around Gardner, MA, about 29 mi away.
How dark is the sky in Keene?
Keene rates a suburban / urban transition — about Bortle 7, with a naked-eye limiting magnitude around 4.6–5.0. That comes from a VIIRS satellite night-lights reading of 31 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 Keene?
The nearest town with genuinely darker skies is Gardner, MA — about 29 mi away at roughly Bortle 6. See the "darker skies within reach" list on this page for more options.
Can I see the aurora from Keene 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 New Hampshire

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