Sherbrooke Stargazing & Astronomy Report

Light pollution and stargazing locations near Sherbrooke

City
Sherbrooke
Country
Canada
Latitude
45.4042
Longitude
-71.8929

Key Sky Quality Metrics

SQM (mag/arcsec²)
17.96
Bortle class
Class 9 (Class 9)
Darkness Quotient
23%
Dataset
March 2026

Inner city sky

Stargazing in Sherbrooke

Sherbrooke is a regional city in southern Quebec, set in the Eastern Townships and known for its hilly setting, rivers and university presence.

With a Darkness Quotient of 23%, Sherbrooke sits in the High Light Pollution tier — brighter than smaller rural communities nearby, though not as overwhelmingly washed out as the very brightest major metros.

In practical terms, brighter targets are the most realistic from within the city: the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters. A few showpiece deep-sky objects can still be attempted, but faint galaxies, subtle nebulae and the Milky Way are largely lost in the urban glow.

The encouraging news is that a worthwhile improvement does not require an especially long journey. Around 35 kilometres to the east, near 35 km E, skies already improve to a genuinely useful dark-site standard, with still darker conditions farther east and south-east.

The map shows Sherbrooke as a strong bright core, with a pale pink-white centre wrapped in red, orange and yellow — a classic urban light dome standing out clearly from the surrounding countryside.

Away from the city, the glow drops off fairly quickly in several directions, but the most striking darker region lies to the east and south-east, where broad dark grey to black areas appear with only scattered smaller settlements punctuating them. By contrast, the western side of the map looks more interrupted by additional pools of light, suggesting a less clean escape from urban brightness.

Overall, Sherbrooke is much brighter than its immediate surroundings, yet it is also relatively well placed for astronomy because darker country skies appear not too far beyond the city halo, especially toward the eastern half of the horizon.

What the sky overhead is like

Looking straight up from Sherbrooke, the zenith is still strongly affected by urban light, with an SQM reading of 17.96. That points to a bright overhead sky where only the more obvious constellations and the brighter stars stand out clearly.

The Moon and planets remain easy targets, and familiar seasonal patterns are still recognisable, but the background sky will look washed out rather than richly black. The Milky Way is not a realistic city-centre sight here, and fainter star fields lose much of their texture.

For casual stargazing this means the sky is usable, but selective: best for bright, high-contrast targets rather than subtle deep-sky observing.

north - fair

About 15 kilometres north of Sherbrooke, the sky improves to fair quality, around Bortle 5, which is a noticeable step up from the city itself. If you keep going, truly dark skies become available much farther out at roughly 200 kilometres in this direction.

north-north-east - fair

Around 15 kilometres to the north-north-east, conditions are fair at about Bortle 5, so brighter deep-sky objects begin to look more realistic than they do in town. There is a useful improvement not far beyond that, but genuinely dark skies do not appear within the sampled distance in this direction.

north-east - fair

At roughly 15 kilometres to the north-east, the sky is fair, around Bortle 5, offering a worthwhile reduction in glow for casual observing. Properly dark conditions are reachable farther out, at about 200 kilometres in this direction.

east-north-east - fair

Around 15 kilometres east-north-east of the city, conditions are fair at about Bortle 5, already much better than central Sherbrooke. This is one of the stronger directions overall, because genuinely dark skies arrive by about 50 kilometres.

east - fair

At about 15 kilometres to the east, the sky is fair, around Bortle 5, making this a promising direction for a quick improvement. Dark skies are reached by roughly 50 kilometres, and conditions continue to strengthen farther out.

east-south-east - fair

Around 15 kilometres east-south-east, the sky is fair at about Bortle 5, so brighter deep-sky observing becomes much more practical. This is another excellent escape route from the city glow, with genuinely dark skies by about 50 kilometres.

south-east - fair

At roughly 15 kilometres to the south-east, conditions are fair, around Bortle 5, with a clear improvement over the city centre. Genuinely dark skies are reachable by about 50 kilometres in this direction.

south-south-east - fair

Around 15 kilometres south-south-east of Sherbrooke, the sky is fair at about Bortle 5, good enough for a noticeably richer star field than in town. Dark skies arrive by about 50 kilometres, making this a strong direction for a stargazing run.

south - marginal

At about 15 kilometres due south, the sky is still only marginal, around Bortle 6, so urban glow remains quite noticeable. The picture improves well with distance though, with genuinely dark skies by about 50 kilometres.

south-south-west - marginal

Around 15 kilometres to the south-south-west, conditions remain marginal at about Bortle 6, so this is not the quickest route to a dramatic improvement. Dark skies do eventually appear, but only after roughly 100 kilometres.

south-west - marginal

At roughly 15 kilometres south-west of the city, the sky is marginal, around Bortle 6, with light pollution still fairly intrusive. Better conditions do arrive with distance, and genuinely dark skies are available at about 100 kilometres.

west-south-west - marginal

Around 15 kilometres west-south-west, the sky is marginal at about Bortle 6, so the urban dome still has a strong influence. This direction improves more slowly, with genuinely dark skies only turning up at roughly 200 kilometres.

west - marginal

At about 15 kilometres due west, conditions are marginal, around Bortle 6, so this is not one of Sherbrooke's stronger escape directions. There is some improvement farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance here.

west-north-west - marginal

Around 15 kilometres west-north-west, the sky is marginal at about Bortle 6, with persistent glow on the horizon. This direction remains relatively compromised overall, and genuinely dark skies do not appear within the sampled distance.

north-west - fair

At roughly 15 kilometres to the north-west, conditions improve to fair, around Bortle 5, giving a noticeably darker background than in the city. Truly dark skies are possible farther out, but it takes a longer run of about 200 kilometres.

north-north-west - fair

Around 15 kilometres north-north-west of Sherbrooke, the sky is fair at about Bortle 5, so this is a decent direction for a quick local improvement. Really dark conditions are available farther out, at roughly 200 kilometres.

zenith - poor

Straight overhead in Sherbrooke, the zenith is poor at Bortle 9, with a bright washed-out background rather than a naturally dark sky. The main constellations and brighter stars are still visible, but faint star fields are thinned out and the Milky Way is effectively lost from the city.

  • 250 km SE
    Direction
    SE
    Distance (km)
    249.8
    SQM
    21.58
    Bortle
    3

    Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

  • 110 km ESE
    Direction
    ESE
    Distance (km)
    110.4
    SQM
    20.86
    Bortle
    4

    Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging

  • 35 km E
    Direction
    E
    Distance (km)
    35.4
    SQM
    20.85
    Bortle
    4

    Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging

Genuinely dark skies are quite accessible from Sherbrooke rather than requiring a major expedition.

The nearest strong step up is about 35 kilometres to the east at 35 km E, where conditions reach Bortle 4, and there are darker still options farther out to the east-south-east and south-east. In other words, the city glow fades away much more quickly than it does around many larger urban centres.

  • Within 50 km
    Place
    35 km E
    Direction
    E
    Distance (km)
    35.4
    SQM
    20.85
    Bortle
    4
  • Within 200 km
    Place
    110 km ESE
    Direction
    ESE
    Distance (km)
    110.4
    SQM
    20.86
    Bortle
    4
  • Within 500 km
    Place
    250 km SE
    Direction
    SE
    Distance (km)
    249.8
    SQM
    21.58
    Bortle
    3

How Sherbrooke's sky has changed over time

The long-term trend is mildly encouraging. The city has improved from SQM 17.70 in the earliest record to 17.96 in the latest one, a small but measurable gain in darkness.

Across the full series, the average sits at SQM 18.44, with readings ranging from a very bright 17.56 to an unusually dark 22.00. The overall trend works out to roughly +0.04 SQM per year, which suggests gradual improvement rather than a dramatic shift.

That said, Sherbrooke still remains a bright urban observing environment overall. In practice, the change is welcome, but not large enough to transform what is realistically visible from within the city itself.

From within Sherbrooke, the best targets are the bright, high-contrast ones that can push through strong skyglow: the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters.

A few showpiece deep-sky objects can still be attempted with patience, especially compact and bright objects such as the Orion Nebula or the brightest globular clusters. Even then, contrast is limited and faint detail is easily washed away.

For the Milky Way, dimmer nebulae, most galaxies and richer meteor observing, a darker site outside the city makes a dramatic difference. Sherbrooke is well placed in that respect, because useful dark-sky gains are available after a relatively modest drive.

  • 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 Sherbrooke?

Yes — you can still see stars from Sherbrooke, including the brighter constellations and standout seasonal patterns. What you lose is the fainter background population, so the sky looks much less crowded than it would from the countryside.

Can you see the Milky Way from Sherbrooke?

Not realistically from within the city. Sherbrooke's city sky is bright enough that the Milky Way is largely washed out, though it becomes much more feasible once you get out to darker rural areas east or south-east of town.

What Bortle class is Sherbrooke?

Sherbrooke is Bortle Class 9 in this dataset, which corresponds to an inner-city sky. That means serious light pollution dominates the view from within the city itself.

What is the SQM reading for Sherbrooke?

The measured sky brightness is SQM 17.96. In plain terms, that is a bright urban sky rather than a naturally dark one.

Where are the nearest dark skies to Sherbrooke?

The nearest strong improvement is around 35 kilometres to the east at 35 km E, where conditions reach Bortle 4. For darker still skies, 110 km ESE reaches Bortle 4 as well, and 250 km SE improves further to Bortle 3.

Is Sherbrooke good for astrophotography?

It is workable for lunar, planetary and some narrow-field targets from within the city, but not ideal for faint deep-sky astrophotography because of the strong skyglow. The good news is that a relatively short drive can improve conditions a great deal for imaging.

How far do you need to drive from Sherbrooke for better stargazing?

For a meaningful improvement, about 35 kilometres east is enough to reach Bortle 4 conditions at 35 km E. If you want darker skies again, stronger options lie farther east-south-east and south-east.