Stargaze Atlas

Olympia, WA — light pollution & stargazing

Washington · Very poor — city glow · population 55,733

Olympia, Washington has a light-pollution rating of about Bortle 8 — a city sky (very poor — city glow) — measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights at 50 nW/cm²/sr at the town center. The sky is bright enough to read by. Only the Moon, the planets, and the few brightest stars and clusters are visible — the constellations lose most of their fainter stars. The nearest genuinely darker skies are around Tumwater, WA (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 Olympia tonight

Light-pollution reading Olympia, WA · VIIRS 2024
Estimated Bortle class
8 of 9

City sky. A satellite upward-radiance proxy for planning — not a survey-grade sky-brightness reading.

VIIRS radiance (town center)
50 nW/cm²/sr
Naked-eye limiting mag.
4.1–4.5
Milky Way
not visible

What you can see from Olympia

The sky is bright enough to read by. Only the Moon, the planets, and the few brightest stars and clusters are visible — the constellations lose most of their fainter stars.

Darker skies within reach

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

Nearer, darker towns from Olympia — nearest first.
Town State Bortle Sky Drive
Tumwater WA 7 Suburban / urban transition 3 mi
Lacey WA 6 Bright suburban sky 4 mi
Artondale WA 5 Suburban sky 22 mi
Camano WA 4 Rural / suburban transition 80 mi

Frequently asked questions

Can you see the Milky Way from Olympia, WA?
Not really. At about Bortle 8 the Milky Way is not visible from Olympia — the sky is too light-polluted. The nearest genuinely dark skies are around Tumwater, WA, about 3 mi away.
How dark is the sky in Olympia?
Olympia rates a city sky — about Bortle 8, with a naked-eye limiting magnitude around 4.1–4.5. That comes from a VIIRS satellite night-lights reading of 50 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 Olympia?
The nearest town with genuinely darker skies is Tumwater, WA — 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 Olympia 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 Washington

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