Bellevue Stargazing & Astronomy Report
Light pollution and stargazing locations near Bellevue
- City
- Bellevue
- Country
- United States
- Latitude
- 47.6101
- Longitude
- -122.2015
Key Sky Quality Metrics
- SQM (mag/arcsec²)
- 18.14
- Bortle class
- Class 8 (Class 8)
- Darkness Quotient
- 24%
- Dataset
- March 2026
City sky
Stargazing in Bellevue
Bellevue is a major suburban city in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, part of the wider Seattle metropolitan area and known for its dense urban development between water, hills and surrounding communities.
The city generally experiences High Light Pollution, with a Darkness Quotient of 24% — placing it among the more light-polluted urban locations, though not at the very brightest extreme seen in the largest city cores.
In practical terms, brighter targets are the most realistic from within the city: the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters. Faint deep-sky objects are heavily washed out by the urban glow, with only a few standout showpieces managing to break through.
Meaningfully darker skies are not close at hand from Bellevue. The nearest reasonable skies are about 115 kilometres away to the south-south-east near Near Skagit County, Washington, while genuinely dark conditions are reached at a similar distance to the west-north-west near Near Jefferson County, Washington.
The map shows Bellevue embedded in a broad, intense urban light dome, with the brightest core rendered in pink-white and red, fading outward through yellow, green and then blue. That pattern points to a heavily illuminated built-up corridor rather than an isolated bright spot, so the city's skyglow blends into a much larger metropolitan footprint.
The darkest-looking areas on the crop sit mainly away from the central glow, especially where the colours fall back to grey and near-black over water and more sparsely lit land. There are also many smaller bright islands scattered around the region, showing that even outside the main core, local settlements continue to interrupt the darker background.
For an observer in Bellevue, this means the horizon is affected in most directions by overlapping domes of light. The cleanest improvement appears away from the main urban mass, particularly towards the east and north-east on the map, where the colour gradient drops away more decisively than it does around the central built-up zone.
What the sky overhead is like
Looking straight up from Bellevue, the sky is firmly urban rather than dark. With an overhead reading of 18.14 SQM, the zenith is bright enough that only the more prominent stars and familiar constellations stand out well.
The Moon and planets remain easy targets, and the main asterisms are still recognisable, but the background sky never turns truly black. Instead, there is a persistent washed-out look overhead, with much of the subtler star field lost from view.
For casual observing this still leaves plenty to enjoy, especially on clear winter nights when the brightest patterns are high up. For deep-sky observing, though, the zenith conditions alone make Bellevue a challenging city base.
north - poor
About 15 kilometres north of Bellevue, the sky is still poor at roughly Bortle 7, so the urban glow remains very obvious. It does improve with distance, but genuinely dark conditions are only reached far out at around 200 kilometres in this direction.
north-north-east - poor
Around 15 kilometres to the north-north-east, conditions are still poor, with a Bortle 7 sky rather than a truly rural one. The encouraging part is that this direction improves steadily, reaching genuinely dark skies at about 100 kilometres.
north-east - marginal
North-east is one of the more promising escape routes from Bellevue, with the sky improving to marginal quality by about 15 kilometres at Bortle 6. Push further on and you reach good skies around 50 kilometres out, with genuinely dark conditions appearing at roughly 100 kilometres.
east-north-east - marginal
At roughly 15 kilometres east-north-east, the sky is marginal at Bortle 6, already a little better than the city centre. This direction improves quickly, with genuinely dark skies reached at about 50 kilometres.
east - marginal
Fifteen kilometres east of Bellevue brings a marginal Bortle 6 sky, so there is some improvement but still plenty of skyglow. Keep going and this becomes one of the stronger directions, with genuinely dark conditions reached at around 50 kilometres.
east-south-east - poor
East-south-east remains poor at about 15 kilometres, with a Bortle 7 sky and strong urban brightness still present. The picture improves meaningfully farther out, and genuinely dark skies appear at roughly 50 kilometres.
south-east - marginal
By 15 kilometres to the south-east, conditions are marginal at Bortle 6 rather than fully urban. This direction improves well with distance, reaching good skies by around 50 kilometres and genuinely dark skies at about 100 kilometres.
south-south-east - poor
South-south-east is still poor at roughly 15 kilometres, with a Bortle 7 sky. It takes a longer run to escape the glow here, but genuinely dark conditions do appear at around 100 kilometres.
south - poor
South of Bellevue, the quick-drive view is poor: at about 15 kilometres the sky is still Bortle 8 and heavily affected by city light. There is a strong improvement farther out, with genuinely dark skies reached at roughly 100 kilometres.
south-south-west - poor
Around 15 kilometres south-south-west, the sky remains poor at Bortle 8, with little real relief from urban brightness. Conditions improve substantially only after a much longer drive, with genuinely dark skies not appearing until about 200 kilometres.
south-west - poor
South-west is poor even after about 15 kilometres, still sitting at Bortle 8. This is one of the weaker directions overall: there is some improvement farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled range.
west-south-west - poor
At roughly 15 kilometres west-south-west, the sky is still poor at Bortle 8. It does recover farther out, with genuinely dark conditions appearing at around 100 kilometres, but the nearby horizon remains heavily compromised.
west - poor
West of Bellevue, a short drive still leaves you under a poor Bortle 7 sky at around 15 kilometres. The direction improves well with distance, reaching good conditions by around 50 kilometres and genuinely dark skies at about 100 kilometres.
west-north-west - poor
West-north-west remains poor at about 15 kilometres, with a Bortle 8 sky and strong local glow. Farther out it becomes much better, with good skies around 50 kilometres and genuinely dark conditions at roughly 100 kilometres.
north-west - poor
At around 15 kilometres to the north-west, the sky is still poor at Bortle 8. This direction does improve markedly farther out, with good skies appearing around 50 kilometres and genuinely dark conditions by about 100 kilometres.
north-north-west - poor
North-north-west is poor at about 15 kilometres, sitting around Bortle 7 with obvious skyglow. There is some improvement farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled radius in this direction.
zenith - poor
Looking straight up from Bellevue, the zenith is poor at Bortle 8, with a bright urban background rather than a dark, contrasty sky. Familiar constellations remain visible, but the fainter stars between them are thinned out and the Milky Way is effectively lost against the light dome.
-
Near Columbia County, Oregon
- Direction
- SSW
- Distance (km)
- 214.8
- SQM
- 21.53
- Bortle
- 3
Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging
-
Near Jefferson County, Washington
- Direction
- WNW
- Distance (km)
- 115.7
- SQM
- 21.35
- Bortle
- 3
Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging
-
Near Skagit County, Washington
- Direction
- SSE
- Distance (km)
- 113.8
- SQM
- 20.95
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
Genuinely dark skies require a proper trip from Bellevue rather than a quick hop out of town. The nearest Bortle 4 step up is about 115 kilometres to the south-south-east near Near Skagit County, Washington, while darker Bortle 3 conditions are available at roughly the same sort of distance to the west-north-west near Near Jefferson County, Washington.
If you head eastward or north-eastward, the directional data suggests the sky improves faster than it does in the more built-up sectors. By contrast, the south-western side stays noticeably compromised for longer, so not every direction rewards the same effort.
-
Within 200 km
- Place
- Near Jefferson County, Washington
- Direction
- WNW
- Distance (km)
- 115.7
- SQM
- 21.35
- Bortle
- 3
-
Within 500 km
- Place
- Near Columbia County, Oregon
- Direction
- SSW
- Distance (km)
- 214.8
- SQM
- 21.53
- Bortle
- 3
Long-term trend
Bellevue's long-term sky-brightness record is fairly steady overall. The earliest reading in the series is 18.21 SQM and the latest is 18.14 SQM, a very small change across 75 datasets.
The fitted trend is slightly positive, but the year-to-year variation appears modest rather than dramatic. In practice, this suggests a city whose night sky has remained consistently bright for a long time, with only small fluctuations around the average.
The wider spread in the record, from 18.07 SQM up to 22.00 SQM, is much larger than the difference between the earliest and latest values. That usually points to varying observing conditions and local measurement circumstances having a stronger effect than any clear long-term shift visible at city level.
From Bellevue itself, the most rewarding targets are the ones that cope best with a bright sky: the Moon, planets, double stars and a handful of the brightest clusters. These are the objects most likely to give satisfying views without needing to leave the city.
A few showpiece deep-sky targets can still be attempted, especially bright nebulae and the strongest globulars, but expectations need to be modest. Contrast is the main problem, so even when an object is technically visible, it may look faint and lacking in detail.
If your main interests are the Milky Way, galaxies, wide-field nebulae or richer meteor-shower views, a darker site makes a dramatic difference. Bellevue is much better suited to casual observing and lunar or planetary sessions than to serious deep-sky work from the city itself.
- Moon
- planets
- double stars
- brightest open clusters
- bright nebulae such as M42
- the brightest globular clusters
- Milky Way
- faint galaxies
- broadband nebulae
- meteor showers
Can you see stars from Bellevue?
Yes — you can still see stars from Bellevue, but the city glow removes many of the fainter ones. The brightest stars and the main constellation patterns remain visible, while richer star fields are much less impressive than they would be under a darker sky.
Can you see the Milky Way from Bellevue?
For most observers within Bellevue, the Milky Way is not a realistic city-sky sight. With an SQM of 18.14 and Bortle 8 conditions, the background sky is simply too bright for it to stand out well.
What Bortle class is Bellevue?
Bellevue is Bortle Class 8, which is a city sky. In practical terms, that means strong light pollution and a clear bias towards brighter objects such as the Moon and planets.
What is the SQM reading for Bellevue?
The measured sky brightness is 18.14 SQM. That is typical of a bright urban environment rather than a dark-sky observing site.
Where are the nearest dark skies to Bellevue?
The nearest substantial improvement listed is Near Skagit County, Washington, about 115 kilometres away to the south-south-east, where conditions reach Bortle 4. For genuinely dark Bortle 3 skies, Near Jefferson County, Washington is about 116 kilometres away to the west-north-west.
Is Bellevue good for astrophotography?
It can work for lunar, planetary and some narrow-field bright-object imaging, but Bellevue is not a strong choice for wide-field deep-sky astrophotography from the city itself. The bright background sky means longer deep-sky exposures quickly run into washed-out contrast unless you travel to darker ground.
How far do you need to drive from Bellevue for better stargazing?
For a clearly better sky, you are looking at roughly 115 kilometres to reach Bortle 4 conditions near Near Skagit County, Washington. If you want properly dark Bortle 3 skies, a similar journey reaches Near Jefferson County, Washington at about 116 kilometres.