Stargaze Atlas

Suffern, NY — light pollution & stargazing

New York · Poor — bright suburban · population 11,001

Suffern, New York has a light-pollution rating of about Bortle 7 — a suburban / urban transition (poor — bright suburban) — measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights at 28 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 Ramsey, NJ (about 4 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 Suffern tonight

Light-pollution reading Suffern, NY · 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)
28 nW/cm²/sr
Naked-eye limiting mag.
4.6–5.0
Milky Way
not visible

What you can see from Suffern

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 Suffern's sky toward truly dark skies.

Nearer, darker towns from Suffern — nearest first.
Town State Bortle Sky Drive
Ramsey NJ 6 Bright suburban sky 4 mi
Ringwood NJ 4 Rural / suburban transition 5 mi
Oakland NJ 5 Suburban sky 9 mi

Frequently asked questions

Can you see the Milky Way from Suffern, NY?
Not really. At about Bortle 7 the Milky Way is not visible from Suffern — the sky is too light-polluted. The nearest genuinely dark skies are around Ramsey, NJ, about 4 mi away.
How dark is the sky in Suffern?
Suffern 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 28 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 Suffern?
The nearest town with genuinely darker skies is Ramsey, NJ — about 4 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 Suffern 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 York

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