Before the shoot · Planning

Light Pollution

Light pollution map: worldwide light pollution from VIIRS night-time satellite data (~500 m, z2–8), with the Bortle class 1–9 estimated automatically for your position or the centre of the map, a class legend and a plain reading of what each class actually lets you shoot. You can cache the current map area locally so it still works up in the hills with no signal. It answers "which way do I drive tonight, and how far, to get dark enough?". It and Astro are two modes of the same screen — entering from here lands you straight on the light pollution map.

When you would reach for it

light pollution
light pollution map
dark skies
dark night
Bortle
Bortle scale
what class is this sky
where can I see the milky way
where is it dark
where to shoot the stars
can I shoot stars in the city
how far do I need to drive
dark sites near me
night sky brightness
sky brightness
artificial light at night
stargazing spots
bortle
dark sky
dark site
where to see the milky way
how far from the city

At a glance

Where to find it	Tools tab → Light Pollution (or Astro → light pollution)
Category	Before the shoot · Planning
Price	Free — every tool is open at this stage, with no paywall
Other languages	光污染 · Light Pollution · 光污染 · 光害
Platforms	iOS 17.0+ / Android