Reno Stargazing & Astronomy Report
Light pollution and stargazing locations near Reno
- City
- Reno
- Country
- United States
- Latitude
- 39.5296
- Longitude
- -119.8138
Key Sky Quality Metrics
- SQM (mag/arcsec²)
- 17.66
- Bortle class
- Class 9 (Class 9)
- Darkness Quotient
- 20%
- Dataset
- March 2026
Inner city sky
Stargazing in Reno
Reno is a high-desert city in western Nevada, close to the Sierra Nevada and best known for its casino skyline, wide basin setting and role as northern Nevada’s main urban centre.
The city generally experiences Extreme Light Pollution, with a Darkness Quotient of 20% — placing it among the more light-polluted urban skies, even if it sits within a region that turns much darker once you leave the metro glow behind.
For practical observing from within Reno, the most reliable targets are the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters. A few showpiece objects such as the Orion Nebula and the brightest globular clusters can still be attempted, but faint galaxies, diffuse nebulae and the Milky Way are largely washed out by the city glow.
Meaningfully darker skies do not sit right on the city’s doorstep, but they do become available with a moderate drive in several directions. For a truly dark site, the nearest named option in the data is about 275 kilometres to the east, near Near Lander County, Nevada.
The map shows Reno as a strong bright core with a broad halo of red, orange, yellow and green spreading out into the surrounding basin, so the city’s light dome is clearly the dominant feature in the immediate area.
That glow is not perfectly symmetrical: it blends into other smaller patches of brightness around the region, especially to the west and north-west, while to the east and south-east the colours fall away more decisively into darker grey and black territory.
Overall, Reno stands out sharply against much darker country beyond the urban fringe. The surrounding landscape appears capable of reaching very good sky quality once you are well clear of the built-up corridor, but from inside the city the local brightness remains overwhelming.
What the overhead sky is like
Looking straight up from Reno, the zenith is still heavily affected by urban lighting. With an overhead reading of 17.66 SQM, the sky remains bright enough that only the more obvious constellations and brighter stars stand out clearly.
The overall impression is of a washed-out urban sky rather than a truly dark one. Familiar patterns such as Orion, the Plough or Scorpius are still easy enough to pick out in season, but the finer star fields between them are thinned dramatically.
For casual observing that is still enough for the Moon and planets to look good, but it leaves little room for subtle low-contrast deep-sky detail from within the city itself.
north - marginal
About 15 kilometres north of Reno, the sky is still marginal for serious deep-sky observing, at around Bortle 6. The view improves quite quickly in this direction, with good rural skies by roughly 25 kilometres and genuinely dark conditions by about 50 kilometres.
north-north-east - marginal
Around 15 kilometres to the north-north-east, conditions are still marginal at Bortle 6, so the horizon glow remains noticeable. A more worthwhile improvement arrives after roughly 25 kilometres, and genuinely dark skies appear by about 50 kilometres.
north-east - marginal
At roughly 15 kilometres to the north-east, the sky remains in the marginal range at Bortle 6. Push farther out and this direction improves well, reaching good conditions by around 25 kilometres and genuinely dark skies by about 50 kilometres.
east-north-east - marginal
About 15 kilometres east-north-east of the city, the sky is still marginal at Bortle 6. It becomes fair to good with more distance, and genuinely dark conditions are reached by around 50 kilometres.
east - marginal
Around 15 kilometres east of Reno, the sky is still marginal at Bortle 6 despite some improvement over the city centre. This direction takes longer than some others to become truly dark, with genuinely dark skies appearing at about 100 kilometres.
east-south-east - marginal
At about 15 kilometres east-south-east, conditions are still marginal at Bortle 6, with city glow still affecting the sky. The improvement becomes more meaningful farther out, and genuinely dark skies are available by around 50 kilometres.
south-east - marginal
Roughly 15 kilometres to the south-east, the sky is still marginal at Bortle 6. This direction improves nicely with distance, reaching good rural quality by around 25 kilometres and genuinely dark skies by about 50 kilometres.
south-south-east - poor
About 15 kilometres south-south-east of the city, the sky is still poor at Bortle 7, so urban light remains a major limitation. It does improve strongly farther out, with fairer skies beyond the nearer glow and genuinely dark conditions by around 50 kilometres.
south - marginal
At around 15 kilometres due south, conditions are marginal at Bortle 6. This route improves more gradually at first, with good skies around 50 kilometres and excellent dark-sky quality by about 100 kilometres.
south-south-west - fair
About 15 kilometres south-south-west of Reno, the sky is already fair at Bortle 5, making this one of the more promising quick escapes from the city. A short further drive brings good rural conditions, and genuinely dark skies arrive by around 50 kilometres.
south-west - fair
Around 15 kilometres to the south-west, the sky rates as fair at Bortle 5. This is a useful improvement over the city itself, and conditions become good by about 25 kilometres before turning genuinely dark at around 50 kilometres.
west-south-west - fair
At roughly 15 kilometres west-south-west, the sky is fair at Bortle 5, with a noticeably better background than in the city. Continue outward and this direction reaches good skies by around 25 kilometres and genuinely dark conditions by about 50 kilometres.
west - fair
About 15 kilometres west of Reno, the sky is fair at Bortle 5. This is one of the stronger directions overall, with good rural darkness by around 25 kilometres and excellent dark-sky quality by about 50 kilometres.
west-north-west - fair
Around 15 kilometres west-north-west, the sky is fair at Bortle 5. A bit more distance brings good conditions by roughly 25 kilometres, and genuinely dark skies follow at about 50 kilometres.
north-west - marginal
At about 15 kilometres north-west of the city, the sky is still marginal at Bortle 6. Even so, it improves well with distance, reaching good quality by around 25 kilometres and excellent dark-sky conditions by about 50 kilometres.
north-north-west - poor
Roughly 15 kilometres north-north-west of Reno, the sky remains poor at Bortle 7, so the urban glow is still quite intrusive. Farther out the picture improves markedly, with good skies by around 25 kilometres and genuinely dark conditions by about 50 kilometres.
zenith - poor
Looking straight up from central Reno, the zenith is poor at Bortle 9, with a bright urban sky background that suppresses faint stars. The brightest constellations are still recognisable, but the Milky Way is effectively lost and only the more obvious stellar patterns remain easy to trace.
-
Near Lander County, Nevada
- Direction
- E
- Distance (km)
- 274.7
- SQM
- 21.73
- Bortle
- 2
Milky Way, faint nebulae, deep-sky imaging
-
Near Esmeralda County, Nevada
- Direction
- SE
- Distance (km)
- 270.5
- SQM
- 21.69
- Bortle
- 3
Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging
-
Near Modoc County, California
- Direction
- NW
- Distance (km)
- 264.2
- SQM
- 21.68
- Bortle
- 3
Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging
Genuinely dark skies are not close at hand from Reno, and the best conditions require a fairly serious journey away from the city lights.
The nearest named top-quality site in the supplied data is about 275 kilometres to the east at Near Lander County, Nevada, where conditions reach Bortle 2. Closer to the city, the picture improves steadily in many directions, with reasonable rural skies appearing after roughly 25 to 50 kilometres and distinctly dark skies often emerging by around 50 to 100 kilometres.
-
Within 500 km
- Place
- Near Lander County, Nevada
- Direction
- E
- Distance (km)
- 274.7
- SQM
- 21.73
- Bortle
- 2
How Reno’s sky brightness has changed
Reno’s long-term trend points towards a gradual brightening of the night sky rather than improvement. The trend slope is -0.0265 SQM per year, which means the sky has slowly become less dark over time.
The earliest reading in the series was 18.25 SQM, while the latest is 17.88 SQM. Across 76 datasets, the mean value is 18.03 SQM, with readings ranging from 17.78 to 18.51 SQM.
In plain terms, that suggests Reno has remained heavily light-polluted throughout the record, with modest year-to-year variation but no sign of a sustained shift towards darker urban skies.
From within Reno, the city-friendly targets are the obvious bright ones: the Moon, planets, double stars and a small number of standout clusters.
A few brighter deep-sky showpieces can still be attempted with care, especially when they are high in the sky, but they will lack contrast and subtle detail. That includes objects such as M42 and the brightest globular clusters.
For the Milky Way, faint galaxies, large diffuse nebulae and meteor watching, a darker site outside the city is a far better choice.
- 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 Reno?
Yes — you can still see stars from Reno, but the view is strongly limited by city glow. The brighter constellations and the more obvious stars show up, while many fainter stars disappear into the background.
Can you see the Milky Way from Reno?
For most observers in the city, no. Reno’s sky is bright enough that the Milky Way is largely washed out from within the urban area.
What Bortle class is Reno?
Reno is rated Bortle 9, which corresponds to an inner-city sky. In practice that means severe light pollution and a strong loss of faint celestial detail.
What is the SQM in Reno?
Reno’s measured sky brightness is 17.66 SQM. That is a bright urban sky by astronomical standards.
Where are the nearest dark skies from Reno?
The nearest named very dark site in the data is Near Lander County, Nevada, about 274.7 kilometres to the east, where the sky reaches Bortle 2. There are also strong improvements in several directions well before that, with good rural skies appearing much closer to the city.
Is Reno good for astrophotography?
It is workable for lunar and planetary astrophotography, and for some bright deep-sky targets with the right filters and processing. For wide-field nightscapes, the Milky Way, or faint nebulae and galaxies, you will get much better results away from the city lights.
How far do you need to drive from Reno for darker skies?
A modest drive can already improve things noticeably, with good rural conditions appearing in some directions after roughly 25 to 50 kilometres. For truly dark skies, around 50 to 100 kilometres is often enough depending on direction, while the nearest named top-tier site in the data is about 275 kilometres away.