Nottingham Stargazing & Astronomy Report
Light pollution and stargazing locations near Nottingham
- City
- Nottingham
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Latitude
- 52.9548
- Longitude
- -1.1581
Key Sky Quality Metrics
- SQM (mag/arcsec²)
- 18.21
- Bortle class
- Class 8 (Class 8)
- Darkness Quotient
- 25%
- Dataset
- March 2026
City sky
Stargazing in Nottingham
Nottingham is a major East Midlands city in central England, known for its historic character, university presence and sizeable urban footprint.
The city generally experiences High Light Pollution, with a Darkness Quotient of 25% — making it brighter than many smaller UK towns and more challenging for astronomy than rural parts of the Midlands.
For practical observing from within the city, the most reliable targets are the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters. A few standout deep-sky objects, such as Orion Nebula and the brightest globular clusters, can still be attempted, but faint galaxies and delicate nebulae are largely washed out by the urban glow.
Meaningfully darker skies are not right on the doorstep, but they are reachable with a moderate drive. The nearest reasonable step up is around 50 kilometres away, to the west-north-west near Near Derbyshire Dales, England, with similarly good conditions also available to the east-south-east near Near South Kesteven, England.
The map shows Nottingham sitting within a broad, bright urban glow, with intense pink and red cores surrounded by a wide halo of orange, yellow and green. This is the signature of a large built-up area whose light spills well beyond the city centre, blending with neighbouring settlements rather than fading away sharply.
The darkest tones in the crop lie mainly toward the outer eastern side and also across parts of the western edge, where the bright halo gives way to deeper blue and then darker grey-black sky. That pattern suggests Nottingham is markedly brighter than its immediate surroundings, but there are more promising rural directions once you push beyond the continuous belt of suburban and small-town lighting.
The south and south-east remain quite busy on the map, with many scattered light sources embedded in a generally brighter background, while the north and north-west show a mixed picture of urban patches separated by somewhat dimmer gaps. Overall, Nottingham stands out as one of the dominant light sources in its region, with the clearest improvement appearing only after leaving the main urban network behind.
How the sky looks from within the city
From within Nottingham, the sky overhead is bright by astronomical standards, with a noticeable urban glow even when looking well away from the horizon. The zenith reading of 18.21 SQM corresponds to a strongly light-polluted sky in which the background never becomes truly dark.
In practice, the familiar brighter constellations are still easy enough to trace, and the main seasonal star patterns remain recognisable. What tends to disappear are the fainter stars between them, so the sky can look sparse and lacking in depth compared with a rural site.
This kind of sky favours high-contrast targets: the Moon, planets and brighter double stars come through well, while faint nebulae, galaxies and the Milky Way are overwhelmed by skyglow. Even binocular sweeping is more rewarding once you get outside the city halo.
north - marginal
About 15 kilometres north of Nottingham, conditions are still only marginal, at roughly Bortle 6. This direction improves gradually rather than dramatically, and genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance, although it does become somewhat better farther out.
north-north-east - fair
Around 15 kilometres north-north-east, the sky improves to fair quality at about Bortle 5. Much darker skies are reachable if you keep going, with genuinely dark conditions appearing only at around 200 kilometres in this direction.
north-east - fair
At roughly 15 kilometres to the north-east, the sky is fair, around Bortle 5, so it is a noticeable improvement on the city but not yet truly dark. This direction does strengthen further, with good rural sky reached farther out and genuinely dark conditions only much farther away.
east-north-east - fair
About 15 kilometres east-north-east of Nottingham, the sky is fair at around Bortle 5. It becomes one of the better directions with distance, reaching genuinely dark skies at about 100 kilometres and improving further beyond that.
east - fair
Around 15 kilometres east, conditions are fair, roughly Bortle 5, making this a useful improvement for a short escape from the city glow. This is a promising direction overall, with genuinely dark skies appearing at about 100 kilometres.
east-south-east - fair
At roughly 15 kilometres east-south-east, the sky is fair at about Bortle 5. It improves to good rural quality farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance in this direction.
south-east - fair
Around 15 kilometres south-east of the city, conditions are fair at about Bortle 5. Farther out the sky reaches good rural quality, but genuinely dark skies are not found within the sampled distance in this direction.
south-south-east - fair
About 15 kilometres south-south-east, the sky is fair at roughly Bortle 5. Beyond that the improvement is uneven, and genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance.
south - fair
At roughly 15 kilometres south of Nottingham, the sky is fair at around Bortle 5. This direction does improve with a longer journey, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance.
south-south-west - marginal
Around 15 kilometres south-south-west, conditions remain marginal at about Bortle 6. There is some improvement farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance in this direction.
south-west - poor
About 15 kilometres south-west of the city, the sky is still poor at roughly Bortle 7, so the urban glow remains very obvious. This is one of the weaker directions overall, and genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance.
west-south-west - marginal
Around 15 kilometres west-south-west, the sky is marginal at about Bortle 6. It improves steadily with distance, and genuinely dark skies become available only much farther out, at around 200 kilometres.
west - marginal
At roughly 15 kilometres west, conditions are still marginal, around Bortle 6. This direction becomes more rewarding with a longer drive, with genuinely dark skies not appearing until about 200 kilometres out.
west-north-west - poor
About 15 kilometres west-north-west of Nottingham, the sky is still poor at around Bortle 7 despite some relief from the city centre. It improves well farther out, and genuinely dark skies only appear at around 200 kilometres in this direction.
north-west - marginal
Around 15 kilometres north-west, the sky is marginal at about Bortle 6. It does improve to good rural quality farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance.
north-north-west - marginal
At roughly 15 kilometres north-north-west, conditions are marginal, around Bortle 6. This direction eventually reaches genuinely dark skies, but only at around 200 kilometres from the city.
zenith - poor
Looking straight up from Nottingham, the zenith is poor for deep-sky observing, with a Bortle 8 sky and an SQM reading of 18.21. The brighter constellations and standout stars remain visible, but the background sky is bright, faint stars are thinned out, and the Milky Way is effectively lost in the light dome.
-
Near East Lindsey, England
- Direction
- ENE
- Distance (km)
- 67.5
- SQM
- 21.20
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
-
Near South Kesteven, England
- Direction
- ESE
- Distance (km)
- 48.8
- SQM
- 20.98
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
-
Near Derbyshire Dales, England
- Direction
- WNW
- Distance (km)
- 46.4
- SQM
- 20.85
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
Genuinely dark skies are not especially close to hand from Nottingham, so a worthwhile stargazing trip usually means getting properly beyond the city and its surrounding settlements.
The nearest reasonable dark-sky improvement is about 45 to 50 kilometres away, with Bortle 4 conditions available west-north-west near Near Derbyshire Dales, England; a similarly strong option lies east-south-east near Near South Kesteven, England. If you are prepared to go a bit farther, the east-north-east improves again near Near East Lindsey, England.
-
Within 50 km
- Place
- Near South Kesteven, England
- Direction
- ESE
- Distance (km)
- 48.8
- SQM
- 20.98
- Bortle
- 4
-
Within 100 km
- Place
- Near East Lindsey, England
- Direction
- ENE
- Distance (km)
- 67.5
- SQM
- 21.20
- Bortle
- 4
Long-term light pollution trend
Nottingham's long-term trend is fairly stable, but with a slight improvement over time rather than a worsening sky. The earliest reading in the series was 18.07 SQM, while the latest is 18.21 SQM, a modest upward shift that points to a marginally darker zenith over the full record.
Across 76 datasets, the mean value is 18.28 SQM, with readings ranging from 17.88 to 18.63 SQM. That spread is not especially large, so while conditions do fluctuate, the city remains consistently in the bright urban category from one dataset to the next.
The overall trend slope is positive, at 0.0274 SQM per year. In practical terms, that is a slow change and not enough to transform what observers experience on the ground: Nottingham is still a city where bright targets dominate and serious deep-sky observing benefits greatly from leaving the urban area.
From within Nottingham, the most rewarding targets are bright, high-contrast objects that can punch through the city glow. The Moon and planets are the obvious choices, while double stars and the brightest open clusters also hold up reasonably well.
A small number of brighter deep-sky objects can still be attempted with care, especially when transparency is good and you observe away from local lights. Even so, these are compromised views rather than ideal ones, and subtle outer structure is easily lost.
For the Milky Way, faint galaxies, large diffuse nebulae and the full spectacle of meteor showers, a darker rural site makes a dramatic difference. These are the kinds of targets that benefit most from getting beyond Nottingham's urban halo.
- Moon
- planets
- double stars
- brightest open clusters
- Orion Nebula (M42)
- brightest globular clusters
- Milky Way
- faint galaxies
- broadband nebulae
- meteor showers
Can you see stars from Nottingham?
Yes — you can still see plenty of the brighter stars and the main constellation patterns from Nottingham. What you lose are many of the fainter stars, so the sky looks much less crowded than it would from the countryside.
Can you see the Milky Way from Nottingham?
For most observers within Nottingham itself, the Milky Way is effectively washed out by the city glow. To see it well, you would want to head for a darker site outside the urban area.
What Bortle class is Nottingham?
Nottingham is Bortle Class 8, which is a bright city sky. That means urban lighting strongly limits faint deep-sky observing from within the city.
What is the SQM in Nottingham?
The measured sky brightness for Nottingham is 18.21 SQM. In practical terms, that is a bright urban sky rather than a dark astronomical one.
Where are the nearest dark skies to Nottingham?
The nearest strong improvement is roughly 45 to 50 kilometres away, with Bortle 4 skies near Near Derbyshire Dales, England to the west-north-west and near Near South Kesteven, England to the east-south-east. Slightly farther away, Near East Lindsey, England also offers similarly good rural darkness.
Is Nottingham good for astrophotography?
It can be good for lunar, planetary and narrow-field astrophotography of brighter subjects, especially if you work carefully around local light pollution. For wide-field Milky Way work or faint nebulae and galaxies, a darker location outside the city is much better.
How far do you need to drive from Nottingham for better stargazing?
A noticeable improvement starts after a moderate drive of around 45 to 50 kilometres, where the sky reaches Bortle 4 at the best nearby sites. For still darker conditions in some directions, you need to travel farther afield.