Khartoum Stargazing & Astronomy Report

Key Sky Quality Metrics

SQM (mag/arcsec²)

19.73

Bortle class

Class 6 (Class 6)

Darkness Quotient

43%

Dataset

March 2026

Bright suburban sky

Stargazing in Khartoum

Khartoum is Sudan’s capital, a major North-East African metropolis at the meeting point of the Blue and White Nile, with a broad urban footprint and a strongly river-shaped setting.

With a Darkness Quotient of 43%, Khartoum sits in the Moderate Light Pollution tier — somewhat darker than the world’s brightest megacities, but still noticeably affected by urban skyglow.

In practical terms, brighter targets are the most realistic from within the city: the Moon, planets, double stars and the brighter open clusters. Some of the showpiece deep-sky objects can still be attempted with care, but faint galaxies, dim nebulae and delicate Milky Way structure are largely washed out.

Genuinely dark skies are not close to hand from Khartoum, and the best improvement calls for a substantial journey away from the capital. The nearest standout site in the supplied data is about 265 kilometres to the west-south-west, near Jebrat al Sheikh جبرة الشيخ, where the sky becomes genuinely dark.

The map shows Khartoum as the dominant bright core in the scene, with a strong white-grey halo spreading well beyond the central red and orange area. That pattern points to a large, luminous urban mass whose skyglow reaches far into the surrounding landscape rather than stopping sharply at the city edge.

There is also a chain of smaller bright patches running away from the main glow, especially along the river corridors, suggesting linked settlements or infrastructure that keep parts of the horizon brighter than the open countryside. Even so, the darkest ground on the map appears away from these corridors, particularly toward the west and in broader gaps between the scattered light domes to the east.

Compared with its surroundings, Khartoum is clearly the main source of artificial brightness in the crop. The city stands out much more strongly than the neighbouring clusters, but once you get well beyond the immediate halo, the map hints at a fairly rapid transition into much darker desert skies.

How the sky overhead looks from the city

Looking straight up from Khartoum, the zenith sits in Bortle 6 territory, which means the overhead sky is distinctly brightened but not completely overwhelmed. The brighter constellations still hold together well, and there is enough contrast for casual stargazing to remain enjoyable.

The main limitation is not whether stars are visible, but how quickly the fainter background disappears. You can expect the sky to look noticeably washed compared with rural Sudan, with weak Milky Way detail struggling and low-contrast deep-sky targets needing patience or optical help.

In practice, the zenith will usually look better than the horizon, where the city’s broader light dome has more effect. That makes higher-altitude targets the most rewarding choice from within Khartoum itself.

• Near Jebrat al Sheikh جبرة الشيخ, North Kordufan

  Direction

  WSW

  Distance (km)

  264.2

  SQM

  21.88

  Bortle

  2

  Milky Way, faint nebulae, deep-sky imaging

• Near Ad Dabbah الدبة, Northern State

  Direction

  NW

  Distance (km)

  271.4

  SQM

  21.86

  Bortle

  2

  Milky Way, faint nebulae, deep-sky imaging

• Near ad-Damer, River Nile State

  Direction

  ESE

  Distance (km)

  280.2

  SQM

  21.69

  Bortle

  3

  Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

Genuinely dark skies require a significant journey from Khartoum rather than a quick trip beyond the suburbs.

The nearest top-class option in the supplied data is around 265 kilometres to the west-south-west, near Jebrat al Sheikh جبرة الشيخ, where conditions reach Bortle 2. If you head eastward or south-eastward, there is a worthwhile improvement sooner than that, but the really impressive step into dark-sky territory still comes further from the city.

• Within 500 km

  Place

  Near Jebrat al Sheikh جبرة الشيخ, North Kordufan

  Direction

  WSW

  Distance (km)

  264.2

  SQM

  21.88

  Bortle

  2

Long-term light pollution trend

Khartoum’s long-term trend is gently encouraging. The city’s SQM has improved from 19.22 in the earliest record to 19.73 in the latest one, an overall gain of 0.51 magnitudes per square arcsecond.

Across 75 datasets, the average sits at 19.69, and the trend slope of +0.0994 SQM per year points to a slow darkening rather than a worsening sky. That does not mean city-centre observing is suddenly pristine, but it does suggest Khartoum’s night sky has become a little less bright over time.

There is still some variation in the record, with values ranging from 18.51 to 21.61, so conditions are not perfectly steady from one period to another. Even so, the overall direction is positive.

From within Khartoum, the most dependable targets are the bright, high-contrast ones. The Moon and planets will show well, double stars are rewarding, and the brightest clusters and a few showpiece nebulae can still be worth trying.

The challenge comes with anything faint or diffuse. Broad, low-contrast targets quickly fade into the sky background, so galaxies and subtle nebulae are much better saved for a darker site outside the city.

If you can get even a moderate distance from the urban core, the menu broadens noticeably. Under genuinely dark Sudanese skies, the Milky Way and a far richer deep-sky catalogue become the real highlight.

• Moon
• planets
• double stars
• brightest open clusters
• some bright nebulae
• brightest globular clusters

• Orion Nebula (M42)
• Lagoon Nebula
• Omega Centauri
• brighter galaxies such as Andromeda under good transparency

• Milky Way
• faint galaxies
• broadband nebulae
• large diffuse nebulae
• meteor showers
• dark nebulae