Lismore Stargazing & Astronomy Report

Key Sky Quality Metrics

SQM (mag/arcsec²)

19.76

Bortle class

Class 6 (Class 6)

Darkness Quotient

44%

Dataset

March 2026

Bright suburban sky

Stargazing in Lismore

Lismore is a regional city in northern New South Wales, set inland from the coast and known for its river setting and strong connection to the wider Northern Rivers region.

With a Darkness Quotient of 44%, Lismore sits in the Moderate Light Pollution tier — noticeably darker than major metropolitan centres, but still bright enough to affect what you can see from town.

In practical terms, brighter targets are the most realistic from within the city: the Moon, planets, double stars and some of the brighter star clusters and nebulae. Fainter galaxies, subtler nebulae and the full richness of the Milky Way are much better saved for a darker spot outside the urban glow.

Lismore is actually quite well placed for a quick escape to darker skies. A clear step up is available roughly 20 to 25 kilometres to the south-south-east, near Near Lismore City Council, New South Wales, with similarly dark conditions also available to the north-east.

The map shows Lismore as a relatively modest light source compared with the brightest regional concentrations in the wider area. Its glow is present, but it does not dominate the frame in the way a major coastal urban strip would, and the surrounding darkness recovers fairly quickly once you move away from the city.

The strongest concentration of brightness lies toward the north-east to east side of the map, where a much more intense red, orange and yellow zone spreads along the coast and pushes a broad halo inland. By contrast, the inland side of the map is much darker overall, with large black areas interrupted only by scattered smaller settlements.

That pattern is encouraging for observers in Lismore: the city sits close to genuinely darker country, especially away from the brightest coastal glow. In simple terms, Lismore is brighter than its immediate rural surroundings, but it is also much closer to dark sky than most larger Australian urban centres.

How the sky overhead feels

Looking straight up from Lismore, the sky is bright enough that the constellations remain easy to recognise, but the background is not truly dark. The brighter stars still stand out well, while the fainter texture between the main patterns is reduced compared with a rural site.

This is the sort of sky where the Moon and planets cope very well, and brighter deep-sky showpieces can still reward a patient observer. What you lose is the delicate low-contrast detail: dim star clouds, faint galaxies and the weaker outer structure of nebulae are much harder to pick out.

Because darker country is so close by, Lismore works nicely as a place for casual home observing backed up by short drives when you want the sky to look substantially richer.

• Near Lismore City Council, New South Wales

  Direction

  SSE

  Distance (km)

  21.5

  SQM

  21.59

  Bortle

  3

  Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

• Near Byron Shire Council, New South Wales

  Direction

  NE

  Distance (km)

  27.2

  SQM

  21.51

  Bortle

  3

  Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

• Near New South Wales

  Direction

  SE

  Distance (km)

  15

  SQM

  21.48

  Bortle

  3

  Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

Genuinely dark skies are close at hand from Lismore rather than requiring a long expedition. The nearest strong improvement is about 20 kilometres to the south-south-east at Near Lismore City Council, New South Wales, where conditions reach Bortle 3, and there is another similarly dark option about 25 to 30 kilometres to the north-east near Near Byron Shire Council, New South Wales.

Even a short drive in several directions brings a noticeable improvement over the city sky, so Lismore is a very workable base for regular observing trips.

• Within 25 km

  Place

  Near Lismore City Council, New South Wales

  Direction

  SSE

  Distance (km)

  21.5

  SQM

  21.59

  Bortle

  3

• Within 50 km

  Place

  Near Byron Shire Council, New South Wales

  Direction

  NE

  Distance (km)

  27.2

  SQM

  21.51

  Bortle

  3

Long-term trend

Lismore's long-term sky trend looks broadly steady, with only modest variation across the available record. The earliest reading is 20.24 SQM and the latest is 19.76 SQM, while the full spread runs from 19.73 to 20.35 SQM.

That tells us the city has seen some fluctuation over time, but not a dramatic collapse into much brighter conditions. In practice, the night sky from Lismore remains meaningfully usable for brighter astronomy, even if the very faintest detail is harder to hold from within town.

The fitted trend is close to flat, suggesting relative stability rather than rapid deterioration. For local observers, that is a better outcome than in many expanding urban areas, where sky brightness often worsens more quickly.

From within Lismore, the most dependable targets are the bright, high-contrast ones. The Moon, planets, double stars and the showpiece clusters and nebulae are all realistic, especially with a bit of patience and careful shielding from local lights.

Some brighter deep-sky objects are still possible from town, but they tend to lose their faint outer structure against the brighter sky background. You can certainly do worthwhile observing from the city, but it rewards a selective target list.

Once you make a short trip out to darker surroundings, the menu opens up dramatically. That is when the Milky Way, fainter galaxies, richer nebula detail and broader wide-field views become much more satisfying.

• Moon
• planets
• double stars
• brightest open clusters
• bright nebulae such as M42
• bright globular clusters

• Andromeda Galaxy
• Omega Centauri
• Lagoon Nebula
• Carina Nebula

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