Kumasi Stargazing & Astronomy Report
Light pollution and stargazing locations near Kumasi
- City
- Kumasi
- Country
- Ghana
- Latitude
- 6.6885
- Longitude
- -1.6244
Key Sky Quality Metrics
- SQM (mag/arcsec²)
- 17.96
- Bortle class
- Class 9 (Class 9)
- Darkness Quotient
- 23%
- Dataset
- March 2026
Inner city sky
Stargazing in Kumasi
Kumasi is a major inland city in southern Ghana, the historic heart of the Ashanti Region and one of the country's most important urban centres.
The city generally experiences High Light Pollution, with a Darkness Quotient of 23% — making it brighter than genuinely dark-sky locations and placing it closer to heavily lit urban environments than to rural observing sites.
In practical terms, brighter targets are the most realistic from within the city: the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters. Fainter deep-sky objects are badly washed out by the urban glow, with only a few showpiece objects appearing at all under good transparency.
Meaningfully darker skies do exist, but they are not right on the doorstep. The nearest reasonable improvement is about 70 kilometres to the north-west, near Tano South Municipal District, Ahafo Region, while truly dark conditions require a much longer journey.
The map shows Kumasi as a strong bright core, with the city standing out clearly against its surroundings as one of the dominant light sources in the immediate region. The central glow spreads outward into a broader halo of yellow, green and blue, suggesting that the city's lighting affects a wide area rather than stopping sharply at the urban edge.
Away from the centre, the pattern becomes more broken and patchy, with many smaller bright pockets scattered across the landscape. That tells you the region is not uniformly dark: there are darker gaps between settlements, but also plenty of secondary light domes that continue to brighten different parts of the horizon.
The darker areas on the map appear more strongly toward the north, north-east and parts of the west, where larger grey and darker-blue zones begin to open up beyond the urban halo. By contrast, the south and south-east look more continuously affected by widespread lighting, so from Kumasi the cleaner escape routes to darker skies appear to be away from the most built-up southern glow.
Looking straight up from Kumasi
At the zenith, Kumasi's sky is bright enough that the familiar constellations remain visible, but the background sky does not become truly dark. With an SQM of 17.96 and an inner-city sky profile, the view overhead is dominated by artificial brightening rather than natural darkness.
For a casual observer, this means the brighter stars and main patterns are still there, but fainter stars drop away quickly. The sky can look pale or washed out instead of richly black, especially when humidity or haze helps spread city light more widely.
For astronomy, the zenith is still the best part of the sky from within the city, simply because you are looking through less of the low-altitude light dome. Even so, Kumasi remains a place where bright objects are the sensible focus and darker sites make a major difference.
north - poor
About 15 kilometres north of Kumasi, the sky is still poor for serious observing, sitting around Bortle 7. The good news is that this direction improves strongly with distance, reaching good rural conditions by roughly 50 kilometres and genuinely dark skies at around 200 kilometres.
north-north-east - poor
At around 15 kilometres to the north-north-east, conditions are still poor, with a Bortle 7 sky and plenty of urban spill. This direction improves steadily, with fair skies farther out and genuinely dark conditions appearing at about 100 kilometres.
north-east - poor
To the north-east, a short drive still leaves you under a poor Bortle 8 sky, so the city glow remains very obvious. The real improvement comes farther out, with fairer skies beyond that and genuinely dark conditions reached at about 100 kilometres.
east-north-east - poor
East-north-east of the city, the sky at 15 kilometres remains poor at Bortle 8, with only limited relief from the urban halo. It improves well with distance, reaching good skies by about 50 kilometres and genuinely dark conditions at around 100 kilometres.
east - poor
Looking east, a quick drive still leaves you under a poor Bortle 8 sky. Conditions do improve farther out to good rural quality at around 200 kilometres, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance in this direction.
east-south-east - poor
East-south-east, the sky at 15 kilometres is poor, around Bortle 7, so bright city glow still dominates. There is some improvement with distance, even reaching good conditions farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not within the sampled radius in this direction.
south-east - poor
To the south-east, a short drive gives only poor Bortle 7 conditions, with faint objects still heavily suppressed. The sky does improve to good rural quality farther away, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance here.
south-south-east - poor
South-south-east of Kumasi, the sky remains poor at 15 kilometres, around Bortle 7. It gets progressively better farther out, with good conditions around the outer rural areas and genuinely dark skies only appearing at about 200 kilometres.
south - poor
South of the city, the sky at 15 kilometres is still poor, around Bortle 7, so this is not yet a major escape from urban glow. A much better improvement arrives farther out, with genuinely dark skies reached at about 100 kilometres.
south-south-west - poor
At roughly 15 kilometres to the south-south-west, conditions are still poor with a Bortle 7 sky. The direction improves gradually to good rural quality farther away, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled radius.
south-west - poor
South-west of Kumasi, a short drive still leaves you under a poor Bortle 7 sky. Conditions improve meaningfully with distance, becoming good farther out and reaching genuinely dark skies at around 200 kilometres.
west-south-west - poor
To the west-south-west, the sky at 15 kilometres is poor at Bortle 7, though it is one of the directions that improves quite well with distance. Good conditions appear farther out, and genuinely dark skies are reached at about 200 kilometres.
west - poor
West of the city, the sky remains poor at 15 kilometres, around Bortle 7. There is a worthwhile improvement by around 50 kilometres, where conditions become good, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance in this direction.
west-north-west - poor
West-north-west, a quick move out of Kumasi still leaves you with a poor Bortle 7 sky. This direction does improve well with distance, reaching good conditions farther out and genuinely dark skies at about 200 kilometres.
north-west - poor
To the north-west, the sky at 15 kilometres is still poor, around Bortle 7, so the city's glow remains significant. Conditions improve to fair and then good farther away, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled radius in this direction.
north-north-west - poor
North-north-west of Kumasi, the sky at 15 kilometres is poor at Bortle 7. It improves strongly with distance, becoming good farther out and reaching genuinely dark skies at around 200 kilometres.
zenith - poor
Straight overhead from Kumasi, the zenith is poor, corresponding to a Bortle 9 inner-city sky. The brightest stars and the main constellation outlines remain visible, but the background sky is washed out and many fainter stars disappear into the glow.
Looking straight up gives you the cleanest view available from within the city, yet it still lacks the depth and contrast needed for subtle deep-sky observing. The Milky Way is effectively overwhelmed from the city centre under these conditions.
-
Near Central Gonja District, Savannah Region
- Direction
- SSE
- Distance (km)
- 274.4
- SQM
- 21.36
- Bortle
- 3
Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging
-
Near Twifo Atti Morkwa District, Central Region
- Direction
- S
- Distance (km)
- 110.2
- SQM
- 21.02
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
-
Near Tano South Municipal District, Ahafo Region
- Direction
- NW
- Distance (km)
- 69.3
- SQM
- 20.92
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
Genuinely dark skies are not especially close to hand from Kumasi, and a worthwhile improvement means leaving the city well behind. The nearest reasonable dark-sky step is about 70 kilometres to the north-west, near Tano South Municipal District, Ahafo Region, where conditions reach Bortle 4.
If you are willing to travel much farther, better still is available: around 275 kilometres away, near Central Gonja District, Savannah Region, the sky reaches Bortle 3. In the nearer surroundings, conditions improve gradually rather than dramatically, so the biggest gains come once you are well outside the city's light dome.
-
Within 100 km
- Place
- Near Tano South Municipal District, Ahafo Region
- Direction
- NW
- Distance (km)
- 69.3
- SQM
- 20.92
- Bortle
- 4
-
Within 200 km
- Place
- Near Twifo Atti Morkwa District, Central Region
- Direction
- S
- Distance (km)
- 110.2
- SQM
- 21.02
- Bortle
- 4
-
Within 500 km
- Place
- Near Central Gonja District, Savannah Region
- Direction
- SSE
- Distance (km)
- 274.4
- SQM
- 21.36
- Bortle
- 3
How Kumasi's sky has changed
The long-term picture for Kumasi is one of brightening skies. The earliest reading in the record is 19.15 SQM, while the latest is 17.96 SQM, a noticeable decline in darkness over time.
Across the full series, the average sits at 18.61 SQM, with readings ranging from 17.7 to 19.44 SQM. The overall trend slope is negative at about 0.09 SQM per year, which points to a steady increase in artificial skyglow rather than short-term fluctuation alone.
In plain terms, stargazing from within Kumasi has become more difficult over the years. Brighter urban lighting means reduced contrast for faint objects, and that tends to shrink the list of worthwhile city targets unless you travel outside the built-up area.
From within Kumasi, the best targets are the ones that can punch through heavy skyglow: the Moon, bright planets, double stars and a small number of standout star clusters. These are the objects most likely to give satisfying views without needing to leave the city.
A few brighter deep-sky showpieces may still be possible in a modest telescope, especially when they are high in the sky, but they will lack contrast and fine structure. Objects such as bright nebulae or the very brightest globulars are more in the category of 'possible' than 'comfortable'.
For the Milky Way, faint galaxies, diffuse nebulae and meteor watching, a darker site outside Kumasi makes a dramatic difference. Those are the kinds of targets that benefit most from getting well away from the urban light dome.
- 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 Kumasi?
Yes — you can still see stars from Kumasi, including the brighter constellations and prominent seasonal patterns. What you lose are the fainter stars that would normally fill in the sky under darker conditions.
Can you see the Milky Way from Kumasi?
In practical terms, the Milky Way is very difficult to see from within Kumasi's city sky. With a Bortle 9 sky and SQM 17.96, it is effectively washed out by artificial light.
What Bortle class is Kumasi?
Kumasi is rated Bortle 9, which corresponds to an inner-city sky. That is the brightest end of the urban light-pollution scale.
What is the SQM reading for Kumasi?
The measured sky brightness for Kumasi is 17.96 SQM. That indicates a bright urban sky with limited contrast for faint astronomical objects.
Where are the nearest darker skies from Kumasi?
The nearest reasonable darker site in the supplied locations is Near Tano South Municipal District, Ahafo Region, about 69.3 kilometres to the north-west, where conditions reach Bortle 4. For an even darker trip, Near Central Gonja District, Savannah Region is about 274.4 kilometres away and reaches Bortle 3.
Is Kumasi good for astrophotography?
Kumasi is fine for lunar, planetary and other bright-target astrophotography, but it is a challenging place for faint deep-sky imaging. Heavy skyglow means shorter gains in contrast and a greater need for filters, processing and travel to darker locations.
How far do you need to drive from Kumasi for darker skies?
For a clear step up in sky quality, you are looking at roughly 70 kilometres to reach Bortle 4 conditions near Tano South Municipal District, Ahafo Region. For genuinely dark rural sky beyond that, the journey is substantially longer.