Conakry Stargazing & Astronomy Report

Light pollution and stargazing locations near Conakry

City
Conakry
Country
Guinea
Latitude
9.5370
Longitude
-13.6785

Key Sky Quality Metrics

SQM (mag/arcsec²)
19.03
Bortle class
Class 7 (Class 7)
Darkness Quotient
33%
Dataset
March 2026

Suburban/urban transition

Conakry: The Practical Verdict

Conakry is Guinea’s capital and main Atlantic port, a busy coastal city in western Guinea with a long, linear urban footprint and a strongly maritime setting.

The city generally experiences High Light Pollution, with a Darkness Quotient of 33% — making it brighter than many inland towns and placing it among the more light-polluted urban locations in the region.

In practical terms, the most reliable targets from within the city are the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters. A few showpiece deep-sky objects can still be attempted, but faint nebulae and galaxies are largely overwhelmed by the urban skyglow.

Meaningfully darker skies are not close at hand, and the best improvement requires a long drive well away from the capital. The nearest truly dark site listed is around 270 kilometres away, near Near Bo District to the south-east, with similarly dark alternatives in other inland directions.

The map shows Conakry as a concentrated bright core with a pronounced red and yellow centre, surrounded by broader green, blue and pale halos. That pattern is typical of a strong urban light dome, with the brightest emission concentrated in the main built-up area and smaller secondary pockets of lighting scattered around it.

A chain of lesser bright patches extends away from the city, especially across the eastern side of the map, suggesting smaller settlements or lit corridors that continue the glow beyond the urban core. Even so, the darkest areas appear comparatively quickly once you move away from the main cluster, especially out towards the blacker background to the west and in the wider darker gaps between the scattered light islands.

Compared with its surroundings, Conakry is clearly the dominant source of artificial sky brightness in the crop. The city stands out sharply against a much darker regional background, which suggests that while the capital itself is bright, significantly better skies do exist once the urban and peri-urban lighting is left behind.

How the sky looks overhead

Looking straight up from Conakry, the sky is in the brighter urban-suburban range rather than anything close to naturally dark. The background skyglow is strong enough that the familiar brighter constellations still show, but the finer texture of the night sky is reduced and the faintest stars are lost.

In these conditions, the brightest patterns remain easy to recognise and the Moon and planets cut through well, but the sky lacks the rich, densely starred appearance seen from darker locations. The Milky Way is generally not a dependable city sight here, and any glow nearer the horizon will be stronger still than at the zenith.

north - fair

About 15 kilometres north of Conakry, the sky is fair rather than dark, around Bortle 5, so brighter deep-sky objects begin to improve but the sky still carries noticeable glow.

If you keep going, genuinely dark conditions arrive at roughly 50 kilometres in this direction, where the sky reaches Bortle 3.

north-north-east - marginal

Around 15 kilometres to the north-north-east, conditions are marginal at Bortle 6, with urban glow still having a strong effect on what you can see.

The direction improves well with distance, reaching good rural skies by about 50 kilometres and genuinely dark conditions by around 100 kilometres.

north-east - poor

The north-east is poor at around 15 kilometres, with Bortle 8 skies indicating that the city’s glow remains very strong in that direction.

There is a major improvement farther out, with good skies by about 50 kilometres and genuinely dark conditions around 100 kilometres away.

east-north-east - marginal

At roughly 15 kilometres east-north-east of the city, the sky is marginal at Bortle 6, so brighter targets dominate and fainter detail remains washed out.

A more useful improvement appears farther on, with good conditions by about 50 kilometres and genuinely dark skies around 100 kilometres away.

east - fair

Around 15 kilometres to the east, the sky is fair at Bortle 5, offering a noticeable step up from the city centre but still not a truly dark setting.

This direction becomes good by about 50 kilometres and reaches genuinely dark conditions at around 100 kilometres.

east-south-east - fair

The east-south-east is fair at around 15 kilometres, with Bortle 5 skies that are useful for brighter deep-sky observing.

It improves quite efficiently, reaching genuinely dark conditions by about 50 kilometres and becoming darker still farther out.

south-east - good

South-east is one of the stronger quick-escape directions from Conakry: at around 15 kilometres the sky is already good, at Bortle 4.

Truly dark conditions follow by about 50 kilometres, and this is also the general direction of one of the nearest listed dark sites, Near Bo District, much farther inland.

south-south-east - good

At roughly 15 kilometres south-south-east of the city, the sky is good at Bortle 4, making this a promising direction for a shorter observing run.

Genuinely dark skies arrive quickly here, at about 25 kilometres, with further gains as you continue outward.

south - good

Looking south for a short drive gives one of the better results near Conakry, with Bortle 4 skies at around 15 kilometres.

Truly dark conditions are reached by about 25 kilometres in this direction, and they continue to improve farther out.

south-south-west - good

The south-south-west is good at around 15 kilometres, with Bortle 4 skies that are already quite usable for more serious observing.

Dark conditions begin by about 25 kilometres, making this one of the quicker directions for escaping the city glow.

south-west - good

Around 15 kilometres to the south-west, the sky is good at Bortle 4 despite some remaining low-level glow.

It becomes genuinely dark by about 25 kilometres, so this is another strong direction for leaving the urban dome behind.

west-south-west - good

The west-south-west offers good skies at around 15 kilometres, with Bortle 4 conditions already a clear improvement on the city.

Genuinely dark skies arrive by about 25 kilometres, and much farther out this is also the general direction of Near Sector de Madina do Boé, Gabu Region.

west - good

At roughly 15 kilometres west of Conakry, conditions are good at Bortle 4, making this a solid direction for brighter deep-sky observing.

Dark skies begin by about 25 kilometres and improve further with additional distance.

west-north-west - good

West-north-west is also good at around 15 kilometres, with Bortle 4 skies that are noticeably cleaner than those over the city itself.

A genuinely dark sky is reached by about 25 kilometres, with very dark conditions available farther out still.

north-west - good

Around 15 kilometres to the north-west, the sky is good at Bortle 4, so this direction offers a worthwhile near-city improvement.

For properly dark conditions you need to go a bit farther, with Bortle 3 reached at about 50 kilometres.

north-north-west - fair

At roughly 15 kilometres north-north-west of Conakry, the sky is fair at Bortle 5, better than the city centre but still carrying obvious skyglow.

A more substantial improvement comes farther out, with genuinely dark conditions reached at about 50 kilometres.

zenith - poor

Straight overhead in Conakry, the sky is poor at Bortle 7, with a bright urban background that suppresses many fainter stars. Familiar constellations are still easy enough to trace, but the sky lacks richness, and the Milky Way is generally not a realistic city-centre sight.

The zenith is the darkest part of the city sky, so lower altitudes toward the horizon will usually look brighter still because of the surrounding light dome.

  • Near Sector de Madina do BoĂ©, Gabu Region
    Direction
    WSW
    Distance (km)
    272.5
    SQM
    21.68
    Bortle
    3

    Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

  • Near Bo District
    Direction
    SE
    Distance (km)
    271.5
    SQM
    21.67
    Bortle
    3

    Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

  • Near Linsansaran, LabĂ© Region
    Direction
    ENE
    Distance (km)
    272.8
    SQM
    21.65
    Bortle
    3

    Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

Historical Light Pollution Trends

Conakry’s night sky has brightened noticeably over the long term in this record. The earliest reading sits at 20.12 SQM, while the latest is 19.03 SQM, a clear decline in darkness over time.

The average across the full series is 19.72 SQM, and the trend slope of -0.0768 SQM per year points to a gradual but persistent increase in artificial sky brightness. The best reading in the record reaches 21.86 SQM, showing that much darker conditions exist in the wider region, but the city itself is now at the dimmer end of its historical range.