Port-au-Prince Stargazing & Astronomy Report
Light pollution and stargazing locations near Port-au-Prince
- City
- Port-au-Prince
- Country
- Haiti
- Latitude
- 18.5944
- Longitude
- -72.3074
Key Sky Quality Metrics
- SQM (mag/arcsec²)
- 20.24
- Bortle class
- Class 6 (Class 6)
- Darkness Quotient
- 52%
- Dataset
- July 2026
Bright suburban sky
Port-au-Prince: The Practical Verdict
Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti, exhibits moderate light pollution typical of a major city setting. The limited suburban sky classification accurately reflects the challenge of observing faint celestial objects, with no visibility of the Milky Way due to the bright sky background.
From this city location, your best observing targets include the Moon, planets, double stars, and bright open clusters. These offer a rewarding view, though even these brighter objects suffer from light pollution. Narrowband imaging of bright nebula cores remains viable with appropriate filters, but deep-sky observing will be notably restricted.
To achieve better stargazing conditions, consider visiting a site 40 km to the west-south-west, where the sky is meaningfully darker. This site offers improved opportunities for serious deep-sky observations.
At a Glance
- Overall
- Limited suburban sky - This is a limited sky for astronomy. The brightest targets remain accessible, but faint deep-sky observing is heavily compromised.
- Milky Way
- Not visible - The sky background is generally too bright for a reliable Milky Way view.
- Best targets from here
- Moon, planets, double stars, bright open clusters, narrowband imaging, bright nebula cores
- Do not prioritise
- broadband galaxies, reflection nebulae, visual faint nebulae, Milky Way photography
- Best nearby upgrade
- 42 km WSW sits about 42 km west south west and reaches Bortle 3, roughly 3.8x darker.
- Good dark window
- Port-au-Prince retains astronomical darkness throughout the year, so seasonality is less extreme than at higher latitudes. The main limitation is light pollution, not the length of the dark window.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you see the Milky Way from Port-au-Prince?
No. Port-au-Prince is a Bortle Class 6 sky with SQM 20.24, so the Milky Way is not visible from the city. For Milky Way photography, look for a Bortle 4 or darker site.
What Bortle class is Port-au-Prince?
Port-au-Prince is Bortle Class 6 (SQM 20.24), a limited suburban sky for astronomy.
Is Port-au-Prince good for stargazing?
Not for serious deep-sky observing. Port-au-Prince is a limited suburban sky where the Moon, planets, and a handful of bright targets are the realistic options from the city itself.
Is Port-au-Prince good for astrophotography?
Broadband deep-sky imaging is heavily compromised from Port-au-Prince and a Bortle 4 or darker site is strongly recommended. Narrowband imaging of bright emission nebulae remains viable from Port-au-Prince with appropriate Ha or OIII filters.
What can you observe from Port-au-Prince?
Primary targets from Port-au-Prince include Moon, planets, double stars, bright open clusters, narrowband imaging. Targets such as broadband galaxies, reflection nebulae, visual faint nebulae are not realistic from this sky.
Where are darker skies near Port-au-Prince?
The closest meaningfully darker mapped site is 25 km S, about 25 km south of Port-au-Prince, reaching Bortle 3.
When is the sky darkest in Port-au-Prince?
The sky over Port-au-Prince is darkest around January, December.
Is light pollution in Port-au-Prince getting better or worse?
Long-term light pollution over Port-au-Prince has been broadly stable across the available measurements.
north - excellent
Clean, fully dark horizon to the north. Star counts remain high right down to the ground.
north-north-east - excellent
No artificial glow on the north-north-east horizon. Faint deep-sky objects in this direction are accessible at low elevation.
north-east - excellent
The north-east horizon is fully dark. Faint stars are visible to within a few degrees of the ground and the Milky Way reaches the horizon on clear nights.
east-north-east - excellent
The east-north-east horizon is dark to the unaided eye. Faint stars are visible at the lowest elevations.
east - excellent
Clean, fully dark horizon to the east. Star counts remain high right down to the ground.
east-south-east - excellent
Dark sky to the east-south-east horizon. The Milky Way can be traced to the ground in this direction.
south-east - excellent
The south-east horizon is dark to the unaided eye. Faint stars are visible at the lowest elevations.
south-south-east - excellent
The south-south-east horizon is dark to the unaided eye. Faint stars are visible at the lowest elevations.
south - excellent
The south horizon is dark to the unaided eye. Faint stars are visible at the lowest elevations.
south-south-west - excellent
No artificial glow on the south-south-west horizon. Faint deep-sky objects in this direction are accessible at low elevation.
south-west - excellent
No artificial glow on the south-west horizon. Faint deep-sky objects in this direction are accessible at low elevation.
west-south-west - excellent
Clean, fully dark horizon to the west-south-west. Star counts remain high right down to the ground.
west - excellent
The west horizon is dark to the unaided eye. Faint stars are visible at the lowest elevations.
west-north-west - excellent
No artificial glow on the west-north-west horizon. Faint deep-sky objects in this direction are accessible at low elevation.
north-west - excellent
Dark sky to the north-west horizon. The Milky Way can be traced to the ground in this direction.
north-north-west - excellent
The north-north-west horizon is fully dark. Faint stars are visible to within a few degrees of the ground and the Milky Way reaches the horizon on clear nights.
zenith - good
The zenith sky is reasonably dark. The Milky Way is detectable as a diffuse band on the best nights.
-
25 km S
- Direction
- S
- Distance (km)
- 25
- SQM
- 21.45
- Bortle
- 3
-
42 km WSW
- Direction
- WSW
- Distance (km)
- 42.1
- SQM
- 21.69
- Bortle
- 3
-
67 km NNE
- Direction
- NNE
- Distance (km)
- 67.3
- SQM
- 21.52
- Bortle
- 3
-
68 km SE
- Direction
- SE
- Distance (km)
- 67.7
- SQM
- 21.50
- Bortle
- 3
-
84 km NW
- Direction
- NW
- Distance (km)
- 83.9
- SQM
- 21.55
- Bortle
- 3
-
135 km WSW
- Direction
- WSW
- Distance (km)
- 135
- SQM
- 21.88
- Bortle
- 2