Akron Stargazing & Astronomy Report

Light pollution and stargazing locations near Akron

City
Akron
Country
United States
Latitude
41.0814
Longitude
-81.5190

Key Sky Quality Metrics

SQM (mag/arcsec²)
17.74
Bortle class
Class 9 (Class 9)
Darkness Quotient
21%
Dataset
March 2026

Inner city sky

Stargazing in Akron

Akron is a mid-sized industrial city in north-eastern Ohio, part of the wider urban belt between Cleveland and the interior of the state.

With a Darkness Quotient of 21%, Akron falls in the High Light Pollution tier, putting it at the brighter end of American mid-sized cities even if it is not on the same level as the very largest metropolitan cores. From within the city, stargazing is largely limited to the Moon, the brighter planets, a handful of double stars, and the most obvious star clusters, while faint galaxies, the Milky Way, and most diffuse nebulae are badly washed out. Bright showpiece objects such as Orion Nebula can still be attempted, but they will not show the contrast you would hope for under darker skies.

Darker skies do begin to appear within a short drive, with a noticeable improvement roughly 25 kilometres to the west-south-west at Rittman, Ohio. For a genuinely dark rural sky, though, you are looking at a much longer run, with the nearest Bortle 4 site about 365 kilometres to the south-south-east at Pending reverse geocode.

The map pattern around Akron is dominated by a broad bright core centred on the city itself, with intense urban glow spreading well beyond the immediate centre. This is not just a small isolated light pool, but part of a wider built-up region, so several horizons are affected at once rather than only one side of the sky.

The first easing of brightness shows up most clearly toward the west and west-south-west, where the colours shift away from the brightest urban tones into more moderate suburban and rural levels. There are also darker patches farther east and south-south-east, but they sit much farther out from the city and do not help the local sky nearly as quickly.

Compared with its surroundings, Akron sits in one of the brighter zones on the map, and the strongest contrast comes once you leave the continuous urban belt behind. In practical terms, the map suggests modest relief after a short drive westward, while the deeper dark-sky territory lies much farther from the city.

What the sky looks like overhead

Looking straight up from Akron, the zenith sits at Bortle 9 with an SQM reading of 17.74, which is typical of a heavily light-polluted urban sky. Even overhead, the background never gets properly black, and the brightest constellations tend to appear against a grey or orange-tinted glow rather than a dark backdrop.

In these conditions, familiar star patterns are still easy enough to trace, but the fainter linking stars that give constellations their full shape often disappear. The Milky Way is effectively lost, and the sky overhead behaves much more like a bright urban dome than a truly transparent window into deep space.

north - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the north, the sky is still poor at Bortle 7, so this direction does not escape Akron's wider light dome quickly. It does improve much farther out, reaching around Bortle 4 at about 100 kilometres, but genuinely dark skies are not within the sampled radius in this direction.

north-north-east - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the north-north-east, conditions remain poor at Bortle 7, with only a modest gain over the city centre. The sky becomes much better by about 100 kilometres, where it reaches Bortle 4, but truly dark conditions are not reached within the sample radius.

north-east - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the north-east, the sky is still poor at Bortle 7, so this is not a quick escape route from city glow. It gradually improves through fair and good territory, and genuinely dark skies appear only at around 200 kilometres in this direction.

east-north-east - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the east-north-east, the sky remains poor at Bortle 7 despite some improvement over central Akron. This direction eventually does very well, but you need to go a long way, with genuinely dark skies only appearing at around 200 kilometres.

east - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the east, the sky is still poor at Bortle 7, so local observing remains heavily affected by artificial light. It improves to fair by around 25 kilometres and reaches genuinely dark conditions only at roughly 200 kilometres.

east-south-east - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the east-south-east, the sky is poor at Bortle 7, with city brightness still very evident. It becomes fair farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not within the sample radius in this direction.

south-east - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the south-east, the sky is still poor at Bortle 7, so only the brighter targets benefit much. It does improve to fair and then good farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance.

south-south-east - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the south-south-east, the sky remains poor at Bortle 7 and does not yet feel remotely dark. This direction improves strongly with distance, reaching good conditions by about 100 kilometres and genuinely dark skies at around 200 kilometres.

south - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the south, the sky is poor at Bortle 7, with a clear urban glow still overhead and along the horizon. It does get much better at around 100 kilometres, but genuinely dark skies are not within the sample radius in this direction.

south-south-west - marginal

Fifteen kilometres to the south-south-west, the sky improves to marginal at Bortle 6, which is a noticeable step up from the city centre. Farther out this becomes one of the better directions, reaching good conditions by about 100 kilometres, though genuinely dark skies are still just beyond the threshold and not reached within the sample radius.

south-west - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the south-west, the sky is still poor at Bortle 7, so the improvement is limited at short range. It becomes fair by around 25 kilometres and a bit better still farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not within the sampled radius.

west-south-west - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the west-south-west, the sky is poor at Bortle 7, though this is one of the more promising nearby directions out of Akron. By roughly 50 kilometres it reaches fair territory, but genuinely dark skies are not within the sample radius.

west - marginal

Fifteen kilometres to the west, the sky improves to marginal at Bortle 6, offering one of the quicker local gains. It becomes fair by around 50 kilometres and reaches good conditions only much farther out, with genuinely dark skies still not found within the sampled distance.

west-north-west - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the west-north-west, the sky remains poor at Bortle 7, so this is not an especially effective direction for a short evening trip. It improves somewhat with distance, but genuinely dark skies are not within the sample radius.

north-west - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the north-west, the sky is still poor at Bortle 7, and this direction appears inconsistent because brighter urban influence returns farther out. While there is improvement at some distances, genuinely dark skies are not within the sample radius in this direction.

north-north-west - poor

Fifteen kilometres to the north-north-west, the sky remains poor at Bortle 7, with only modest relief from the city glow. Conditions improve much farther out, even reaching good sky around 100 kilometres, but genuinely dark skies are not within the sampled radius.

zenith - poor

At the zenith, Akron is rated poor, with Bortle 9 conditions and an SQM of 17.74 straight overhead. Looking directly up, you can still pick out the main stars of the brighter constellations, but the background sky stays bright and the finer structure of the night sky is largely missing.

  • Rittman, Ohio
    Direction
    WSW
    Distance (km)
    24.1
    SQM
    19.58
    Bortle
    7
  • Widowville, Ohio
    Direction
    WSW
    Distance (km)
    75.4
    SQM
    20.46
    Bortle
    5
  • Jefferson Township, Ohio
    Direction
    SSW
    Distance (km)
    93.9
    SQM
    20.29
    Bortle
    6
  • Osage, Ohio
    Direction
    SE
    Distance (km)
    94.5
    SQM
    19.88
    Bortle
    6
  • Connoquenessing Township, Pennsylvania
    Direction
    ESE
    Distance (km)
    130.2
    SQM
    20.27
    Bortle
    6
  • Leamington, Ontario
    Direction
    NW
    Distance (km)
    137.3
    SQM
    20.17
    Bortle
    6

Akron does have darker skies within reach, but the really worthwhile gains start only once you get away from the urban spread and into more rural country. The nearest noticeable improvement is around 25 kilometres to the west-south-west at Rittman, Ohio, where the sky is darker but still far from truly dark.

If you want the sort of sky where the Milky Way becomes much more convincing and faint deep-sky observing starts to open up properly, you need a much longer trip. The nearest Bortle 4 option in the supplied data is about 365 kilometres to the south-south-east at Pending reverse geocode, although places such as Widowville, Ohio around 75 kilometres to the west-south-west already offer a clear improvement over Akron itself.

  • Within 25 km
    Place
    Pending reverse geocode
    Direction
    WSW
    Distance (km)
    24.1
    SQM
    19.58
    Bortle
    7
  • Within 100 km
    Place
    Pending reverse geocode
    Direction
    WSW
    Distance (km)
    75.4
    SQM
    20.46
    Bortle
    5
  • Within 200 km
    Place
    Pending reverse geocode
    Direction
    W
    Distance (km)
    162.2
    SQM
    20.46
    Bortle
    5
  • Within 500 km
    Place
    Pending reverse geocode
    Direction
    SSE
    Distance (km)
    364.4
    SQM
    20.93
    Bortle
    4

Long-term light pollution trend

The long-term picture for Akron is fairly steady. The earliest reading in the record is 17.48 SQM and the latest is 17.74 SQM, with an average of 17.76 SQM across 83 datasets.

That points to only a very slight darkening over time rather than a dramatic shift in either direction. In practice, the city sky remains consistently bright, so the night-to-night difference you notice on the ground is likely to come more from transparency, humidity, and seasonal conditions than from any major long-term change in the underlying light pollution.

Akron's sky strongly favours bright, high-contrast targets. Lunar observing, planetary detail, double stars, and a small number of bright clusters are the most rewarding choices from within the city.

A few deep-sky objects can still be tried with patience, especially if they are compact and bright, but subtle detail is hard to hold and the background sky quickly robs them of contrast. For the Milky Way, faint galaxies, and most nebula hunting, a darker site outside the city makes a very large difference.

  • Moon
  • planets
  • double stars
  • bright variable stars
  • the brightest open clusters such as the Pleiades and Beehive
  • Orion Nebula
  • the brightest globular clusters
  • a few showpiece open clusters
  • bright comets when well placed
  • Milky Way
  • faint galaxies
  • most nebulae
  • meteor showers
  • large diffuse objects
  • dark nebulae

Can you see stars from Akron?

Yes, easily, but mostly the brighter ones. The main constellation patterns are still visible, though many fainter stars disappear into the city glow.

Can you see the Milky Way from Akron?

For most observers, no. With Bortle Class 9 skies and an SQM of 17.74, the Milky Way is effectively washed out from the city itself.

What Bortle class is Akron?

Akron is Bortle Class 9, which is an inner city sky. That means artificial skyglow dominates the background and limits deep-sky observing quite severely.

What is the SQM reading for Akron?

The measured sky brightness is 17.74 SQM. That is firmly in bright urban territory rather than a dark rural sky.

Where are the nearest darker skies?

The nearest darker site in the supplied data is Rittman, Ohio, about 24 kilometres to the west-south-west, where conditions improve to Bortle 7. A more substantial gain comes around 75 kilometres to the west-south-west at Widowville, Ohio, which reaches Bortle 5.

Is Akron good for astrophotography?

It is workable for the Moon, planets, and some narrowband imaging of bright nebulae, but it is not a strong location for wide-field nightscapes or faint galaxy work. The bright background sky means exposure choices and filters matter much more than they would at a dark rural site.

How far do you need to drive from Akron for dark skies?

For a noticeable improvement, a short drive of about 25 kilometres can help. For genuinely dark skies in the supplied data, the nearest Bortle 4 site is much farther away, about 365 kilometres to the south-south-east.