Seville Stargazing & Astronomy Report

Light pollution and stargazing locations near Seville

City
Seville
Country
Spain
Latitude
37.3891
Longitude
-5.9845

Key Sky Quality Metrics

SQM (mag/arcsec²)
17.56
Bortle class
Class 9 (Class 9)
Darkness Quotient
19%
Dataset
March 2026

Inner city sky

Seville: The Practical Verdict

Seville is a historic regional capital in Andalusia, in the south of Spain, known for its grand architecture, warm climate and lively urban character.

The city generally experiences Extreme Light Pollution, with a Darkness Quotient of just 19% — placing it among the most light-polluted urban skies in Spain and indeed among brighter major cities internationally.

For practical observing from within the city, the most rewarding targets are the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters. Fainter galaxies, nebulae and the broader texture of the deep sky are largely washed out by the city glow.

Meaningfully darker skies do exist, but they are not right on Seville's doorstep. The nearest reasonable step up is about 50 kilometres to the south-west near 50 km SW, while truly dark conditions arrive farther out at roughly 90 kilometres to the south-south-west near 93 km SSW.

The map shows Seville as a strong bright core, with the city standing out clearly against a generally darker rural background. Around that core, the surrounding landscape is mottled rather than uniformly dark, with many smaller settlements producing scattered yellow and red patches in several directions.

The darkest-looking regions in the crop are mostly away from the main urban concentration, especially towards parts of the north-west, north and some more distant south-western areas, where the colours shift into deeper blues and darker tones. By contrast, the east and south-east look more interrupted by secondary light domes, suggesting that even when the city glow begins to ease, it is often replaced by other sources of artificial brightness.

Overall, Seville appears much brighter than its immediate surroundings, but it is not isolated in darkness in the way some smaller inland cities are. The map suggests that escaping the worst of the glow is certainly possible, though the cleanest skies tend to appear only after putting real distance between yourself and the metropolitan area.

What the sky overhead is like

Looking straight up from Seville, the zenith remains very bright by astronomical standards. With an overhead reading of 17.56 SQM, the city sky tends to look pale rather than richly dark, and the background never quite develops the contrast deep-sky observers hope for.

In these conditions, the familiar brighter constellations still come through, but many of their fainter linking stars are lost. The overall impression is of a sky where the main patterns are visible, yet the subtle detail between them is stripped away by the urban light dome.

For casual stargazing that still leaves plenty to enjoy — especially the Moon and planets — but it is not a sky that readily reveals the Milky Way or delicate faint objects overhead.

north - marginal

About 15 kilometres north of Seville, the sky improves to Bortle 6, which is marginal for anything beyond brighter targets. The picture gets much better further out, with genuinely dark Bortle 3 conditions reached at around 50 kilometres in this direction.

north-north-east - marginal

At around 15 kilometres to the north-north-east, conditions are Bortle 6, so the sky is still noticeably affected by light pollution. A more worthwhile improvement appears farther out, with Bortle 4 around 50 kilometres away and Bortle 3 reached at roughly 100 kilometres.

north-east - marginal

Around 15 kilometres to the north-east, the sky is Bortle 6, giving only a limited improvement over the city itself. Better skies build steadily here, with Bortle 4 around 50 kilometres out and genuinely dark Bortle 3 conditions at about 100 kilometres.

east-north-east - marginal

At roughly 15 kilometres east-north-east of Seville, the sky is Bortle 6, so this remains a marginal direction for a quick escape from the city glow. It does improve to Bortle 4 farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance in this direction.

east - poor

About 15 kilometres east, the sky is still Bortle 7, which remains poor for most deep-sky observing. There is a useful improvement farther out to Bortle 4 at around 50 kilometres, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance in this direction.

east-south-east - poor

At around 15 kilometres to the east-south-east, conditions remain Bortle 8, so the city glow is still very strong. The sky does improve with distance and reaches Bortle 4 farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not within the sampled radius in this direction.

south-east - poor

Around 15 kilometres south-east of Seville, the sky is Bortle 7, which is still poor for faint targets. There is a decent improvement to Bortle 4 by about 50 kilometres, but truly dark Bortle 3 conditions do not appear until roughly 200 kilometres out.

south-south-east - poor

At about 15 kilometres south-south-east, the sky is Bortle 8, so this direction remains strongly light-polluted on a short outing. It does improve to Bortle 4 farther away, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled radius.

south - poor

Around 15 kilometres due south, conditions are Bortle 7, still poor for all but brighter celestial objects. There is some improvement with distance, but genuinely dark skies are not within the sampled radius in this direction.

south-south-west - poor

At roughly 15 kilometres to the south-south-west, the sky is Bortle 7, so a short drive only partly escapes Seville's glow. Conditions become much stronger farther out, with Bortle 4 around 50 kilometres away and excellent dark skies reached only at roughly 200 kilometres.

south-west - marginal

About 15 kilometres south-west of the city, the sky reaches Bortle 6, making this a marginal but improved direction for a quick session. It becomes notably better farther out, with Bortle 4 around 50 kilometres away and Bortle 3 at about 100 kilometres.

west-south-west - poor

At around 15 kilometres west-south-west, the sky is still Bortle 7, so this remains a poor quick-drive direction for deep-sky work. There is improvement with distance, reaching Bortle 4 farther out and Bortle 3 only at roughly 200 kilometres.

west - poor

Around 15 kilometres due west, the sky is Bortle 7, still firmly in poor territory for faint-object observing. Conditions do improve eventually, but genuinely dark Bortle 3 skies are only reached at around 200 kilometres in this direction.

west-north-west - marginal

At roughly 15 kilometres west-north-west of Seville, the sky is Bortle 6, so this is a marginal but usable direction for brighter targets. It improves well with distance, reaching Bortle 4 around 50 kilometres away and Bortle 3 at about 100 kilometres.

north-west - marginal

About 15 kilometres north-west, the sky is Bortle 6, offering a noticeable if still limited step up from the city centre. This is one of the better directions overall, with genuinely dark Bortle 3 skies reached at around 50 kilometres.

north-north-west - marginal

At around 15 kilometres north-north-west, the sky is Bortle 6, making it marginal for anything faint but better than central Seville. Conditions strengthen nicely with distance, and genuinely dark Bortle 3 skies arrive at roughly 50 kilometres.

zenith - poor

Looking straight up from Seville, the zenith is Bortle 9, so the overhead sky is heavily washed by urban light. The brightest constellations are still recognisable, but many fainter stars disappear into the glow, and the Milky Way is not a realistic city-centre sight.

  • 93 km SSW
    Direction
    SSW
    Distance (km)
    93.1
    SQM
    21.35
    Bortle
    3

    Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

  • 92 km ESE
    Direction
    ESE
    Distance (km)
    91.7
    SQM
    20.92
    Bortle
    4

    Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging

  • 50 km SW
    Direction
    SW
    Distance (km)
    50.3
    SQM
    20.89
    Bortle
    4

    Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging

Historical Light Pollution Trends

Seville's measured night sky has shown a modest improvement over the long term. The earliest reading in the series was 17.16 SQM, while the latest reaches 17.56 SQM, with an overall average of 17.49 SQM.

That works out as a gradual bright-sky improvement of around 0.0245 SQM per year across 75 datasets. In practice, this is encouraging but not transformative: the city remains heavily light-polluted, so although conditions may be a little better than they were in the early 2010s, urban observers still face a very bright sky.

The full range, from 17.16 to 17.7 SQM, is fairly narrow by city standards. That suggests Seville's sky quality has been relatively stable, with only gentle movement rather than dramatic swings.