Scarborough Stargazing & Astronomy Report
Light pollution and stargazing locations near Scarborough
- City
- Scarborough
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Latitude
- 54.2798
- Longitude
- -0.4015
Key Sky Quality Metrics
- SQM (mag/arcsec²)
- 19.22
- Bortle class
- Class 7 (Class 7)
- Darkness Quotient
- 36%
- Dataset
- May 2026
Suburban/urban transition
Scarborough: The Practical Verdict
Scarborough is a small city on the coast of North Yorkshire, offering suburban surroundings and a high level of light pollution. The overall astronomy quality here is poor, with an urban/suburban sky that limits visibility significantly. The Milky Way is not visible under these conditions.
From Scarborough, your best astronomical targets include the Moon, planets, and bright double stars. Observing anything beyond these bright objects, such as visual deep-sky observations or broadband galaxies, is largely impractical. For astrophotographers, careful narrowband imaging may still produce results, but broadband deep-sky captures are ill-suited to this location.
For a meaningful upgrade, consider heading about 8 km north-north-west of the city, where the skies are significantly darker. This site offers a Bortle 4 sky and makes deep-sky observing a more rewarding endeavour.
At a Glance
- Overall
- Poor urban/suburban sky - This is a poor sky for astronomy. The Moon, planets, and a few bright objects remain viable, but deep-sky work is difficult.
- Milky Way
- Not visible - The Milky Way is not realistically visible from this level of light pollution.
- Best targets from here
- Moon, planets, bright double stars, bright open clusters, narrowband imaging with careful processing
- Do not prioritise
- visual deep-sky observing, broadband galaxies, reflection nebulae, Milky Way photography
- Best nearby upgrade
- 8 km NNW sits about 8 km north north west and reaches Bortle 4, roughly 6.3x darker.
- Moderate dark window
- Scarborough's limiting factor is not only light pollution. Around midsummer, Scarborough loses true astronomical darkness entirely, so deep-sky observing and imaging are strongly seasonal. Plan serious sessions around the darker months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you see the Milky Way from Scarborough?
No. Scarborough is a Bortle Class 7 sky with SQM 19.22, 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 Scarborough?
Scarborough is Bortle Class 7 (SQM 19.22), a poor urban/suburban sky for astronomy.
Is Scarborough good for stargazing?
Not for serious deep-sky observing. Scarborough is a poor urban/suburban sky where the Moon, planets, and a handful of bright targets are the realistic options from the city itself.
Is Scarborough good for astrophotography?
Broadband deep-sky imaging is heavily compromised from Scarborough and a Bortle 4 or darker site is strongly recommended. Narrowband imaging of bright emission nebulae remains viable from Scarborough with appropriate Ha or OIII filters.
What can you observe from Scarborough?
Primary targets from Scarborough include Moon, planets, bright double stars, bright open clusters, narrowband imaging with careful processing. Targets such as visual deep-sky observing, broadband galaxies, reflection nebulae are not realistic from this sky.
Where are darker skies near Scarborough?
The closest meaningfully darker mapped site is 8 km NNW, about 8 km north north west of Scarborough, reaching Bortle 4.
When is the sky darkest in Scarborough?
The sky over Scarborough is darkest around January, December. Significant summer limitation: around 83 nights per year have no true astronomical darkness.
Is light pollution in Scarborough getting better or worse?
Long-term light pollution over Scarborough has been broadly stable across the available measurements.
north - excellent
The north sky is dark to the horizon. Faint stars and the Milky Way reach the ground in this direction on clear nights.
north-north-east - excellent
No visible light pollution in the north-north-east direction. The Milky Way structure is visible into this quarter on transparent nights.
north-east - excellent
The north-east sky is dark to the horizon. Faint stars and the Milky Way reach the ground in this direction on clear nights.
east-north-east - excellent
Fully dark sky to the east-north-east. This is among the cleaner directions from this site.
east - excellent
The east sky is dark to the horizon with no visible artificial brightening. Faint extended objects are accessible at low elevation.
east-south-east - excellent
The east-south-east sky is dark to the horizon with no visible artificial brightening. Faint extended objects are accessible at low elevation.
south-east - excellent
No skyglow to the south-east. Stars are visible to the naked-eye limit at all elevations in this direction.
south-south-east - excellent
The south-south-east sky is dark to the horizon with no visible artificial brightening. Faint extended objects are accessible at low elevation.
south - excellent
No skyglow to the south. Stars are visible to the naked-eye limit at all elevations in this direction.
south-south-west - excellent
No visible light pollution in the south-south-west direction. The Milky Way structure is visible into this quarter on transparent nights.
south-west - excellent
The south-west sky is dark to the horizon with no visible artificial brightening. Faint extended objects are accessible at low elevation.
west-south-west - excellent
No visible light pollution in the west-south-west direction. The Milky Way structure is visible into this quarter on transparent nights.
west - excellent
No visible light pollution in the west direction. The Milky Way structure is visible into this quarter on transparent nights.
west-north-west - excellent
The west-north-west sky is dark to the horizon. Faint stars and the Milky Way reach the ground in this direction on clear nights.
north-west - excellent
No skyglow to the north-west. Stars are visible to the naked-eye limit at all elevations in this direction.
north-north-west - excellent
Fully dark sky to the north-north-west. This is among the cleaner directions from this site.
zenith - fair
The overhead sky is moderately light-polluted. The Milky Way is not visible and faint stars are reduced in number.
-
8 km NNW
- Direction
- NNW
- Distance (km)
- 7.5
- SQM
- 21.21
- Bortle
- 4
-
Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby
- Direction
- NW
- Distance (km)
- 23.4
- SQM
- 21.16
- Bortle
- 4
-
Buckton
- Direction
- SE
- Distance (km)
- 18.6
- SQM
- 20.76
- Bortle
- 5
-
Bulmer
- Direction
- SW
- Distance (km)
- 38.8
- SQM
- 20.69
- Bortle
- 5
-
Yapham
- Direction
- SSW
- Distance (km)
- 42.2
- SQM
- 20.66
- Bortle
- 5
-
Ellingstring
- Direction
- W
- Distance (km)
- 85.6
- SQM
- 21.06
- Bortle
- 4