Shreveport Stargazing & Astronomy Report
Light pollution and stargazing locations near Shreveport
- City
- Shreveport
- Country
- United States
- Latitude
- 32.5252
- Longitude
- -93.7502
Key Sky Quality Metrics
- SQM (mag/arcsec²)
- 18.14
- Bortle class
- Class 8 (Class 8)
- Darkness Quotient
- 24%
- Dataset
- March 2026
City sky
Stargazing in Shreveport
Shreveport is a major city in north-western Louisiana, close to the Texas border, with a strong regional role and a broad urban footprint along the Red River.
The city generally experiences High Light Pollution, with a Darkness Quotient of 24% — making it brighter than strong rural locations and placing it among the more light-polluted urban skies.
For practical observing from within the city, the most reliable targets are the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters. A few showpiece deep-sky objects can still be attempted, but faint galaxies, dim nebulae and the richer background of the night sky are mostly lost in the urban glow.
Meaningfully darker skies are not right on the doorstep, but they are reachable with a moderate drive. The nearest reasonable step up is about 65 kilometres to the north-east, at 66 km NE, where conditions improve to genuinely useful dark-sky territory.
The map shows Shreveport as the dominant bright core in the area, with an intense white-pink centre surrounded by a broad red and orange halo. That pattern is typical of a large urban light dome whose glow spreads well beyond the built-up centre.
Away from the city, the surrounding landscape drops back quite quickly into green and then blue tones, showing that the wider region is noticeably darker than the city itself. Even so, the map is peppered with many smaller yellow and red islands in almost every direction, so the countryside is not uniformly dark.
The cleanest-looking darker patches appear more consistently to the north, north-east and parts of the south-east, where broader blue areas open up between smaller settlements. By contrast, the immediate urban corridor remains the brightest feature in the crop, and several linked pockets of brightness make some directions look more interrupted than others.
What the sky overhead is like
Looking straight up from Shreveport, the sky remains heavily washed by artificial light rather than truly dark. With a zenith reading of 18.14 SQM, the overhead sky is bright enough that the faint star fields which give the night sky its depth are strongly suppressed.
The familiar brighter constellations are still there, but they tend to look simplified, with many of their dimmer member stars missing. That means the sky can feel sparse overhead compared with a rural site, even on a clear moonless night.
For casual observing this is still enough for the Moon, planets and a handful of brighter showpieces. For Milky Way structure, subtle nebula detail and the fainter Messier objects, the city sky is simply too bright to show them at their best.
north - marginal
About 15 kilometres north of Shreveport, the sky is still only marginal for astronomy, sitting around Bortle 6. The encouraging part is that this direction improves strongly with distance, reaching genuinely dark conditions at about 50 kilometres.
north-north-east - marginal
Around 15 kilometres to the north-north-east, conditions are still marginal, with a Bortle 6 sky. Keep going in this direction and the outlook improves a lot, with dark-sky territory reached at about 50 kilometres.
north-east - marginal
At roughly 15 kilometres to the north-east, the sky remains marginal at Bortle 6, so urban glow is still very noticeable. This is one of the better escape routes, with substantially darker skies available farther out and dark conditions reached at about 100 kilometres.
east-north-east - marginal
Around 15 kilometres east-north-east of the city, the sky is still marginal, again around Bortle 6. There is worthwhile improvement farther out, with genuinely dark conditions appearing at about 100 kilometres.
east - marginal
About 15 kilometres east of Shreveport, the sky is still marginal at Bortle 6. Although it improves for a while farther out, genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance in this direction.
east-south-east - marginal
At roughly 15 kilometres east-south-east, the sky is still marginal, near Bortle 6, with obvious light pollution. Conditions do improve steadily with distance, and genuinely dark skies are reachable much farther out at about 200 kilometres.
south-east - poor
Around 15 kilometres to the south-east, the sky is still poor for serious observing, with a Bortle 7 reading. The picture improves markedly beyond the city glow, and genuinely dark skies appear at about 100 kilometres.
south-south-east - poor
About 15 kilometres south-south-east of Shreveport, the sky remains poor at Bortle 7. This direction does get much better with distance, reaching dark conditions at about 100 kilometres.
south - poor
Around 15 kilometres due south, the sky is still poor, with Bortle 8 conditions and strong urban brightening. There is a clear improvement farther out, but genuinely dark skies do not arrive until about 200 kilometres.
south-south-west - poor
At roughly 15 kilometres south-south-west, the sky remains poor at Bortle 8, so deep-sky work is heavily compromised. It improves significantly with distance, though truly dark conditions are only reached at about 200 kilometres.
south-west - poor
About 15 kilometres to the south-west, conditions are still poor, with a Bortle 7 sky. If you continue farther out the sky improves a great deal, reaching genuinely dark conditions at about 100 kilometres.
west-south-west - marginal
Around 15 kilometres west-south-west of the city, the sky is still marginal at Bortle 6. There is some improvement farther out, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance in this direction.
west - marginal
At roughly 15 kilometres west, the sky is marginal, around Bortle 6, so the city glow still has a strong effect. This direction does not lead to genuinely dark skies within the sampled range, and the improvement remains limited.
west-north-west - marginal
About 15 kilometres west-north-west of Shreveport, conditions are marginal at Bortle 6. The sky does improve farther out to something useful for astronomy, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance.
north-west - marginal
Around 15 kilometres north-west, the sky is still marginal, near Bortle 6. This is a promising direction overall, with genuinely dark conditions reached at about 50 kilometres.
north-north-west - fair
At roughly 15 kilometres north-north-west, the sky improves to fair, around Bortle 5, making it one of the better nearby directions. Farther out it continues to improve, with genuinely dark skies reached at about 200 kilometres.
zenith - poor
Looking straight up from central Shreveport, the zenith is poor for dark-sky observing, corresponding to Bortle 8. The brightest stars and main constellation outlines are visible, but the sky background stays bright and washed out, with little sign of the richer star fields that stand out from darker locations.
-
232 km SSE
- Direction
- SSE
- Distance (km)
- 231.5
- SQM
- 21.26
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
-
66 km NE
- Direction
- NE
- Distance (km)
- 65.6
- SQM
- 21.15
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
-
151 km SSE
- Direction
- SSE
- Distance (km)
- 151.3
- SQM
- 21.13
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
Genuinely darker skies do require leaving Shreveport behind, but the journey is not especially long by city standards.
The nearest strong improvement is about 65 kilometres to the north-east at 66 km NE, where skies reach Bortle 4 and become much more suitable for serious deep-sky observing. Several other directions also improve well with distance, but the north-east is the most straightforward nearby step-change in quality.
If you head only a short way out, the sky usually remains noticeably affected by the city's light dome, so the biggest gains come once you are well clear of the urban area.
-
Within 100 km
- Place
- 66 km NE
- Direction
- NE
- Distance (km)
- 65.6
- SQM
- 21.15
- Bortle
- 4
-
Within 200 km
- Place
- 151 km SSE
- Direction
- SSE
- Distance (km)
- 151.3
- SQM
- 21.13
- Bortle
- 4
-
Within 500 km
- Place
- 232 km SSE
- Direction
- SSE
- Distance (km)
- 231.5
- SQM
- 21.26
- Bortle
- 4
How the sky has changed over time
Shreveport's long-term trend is fairly stable, with a slight improvement in measured darkness over the available record. The earliest value in the series is 18.03 SQM, while the latest is 18.14 SQM.
Across all 75 datasets, the mean sits at 18.29 SQM, with readings ranging from 18.03 to 18.57 SQM. That is a relatively narrow spread, suggesting the city has remained consistently bright rather than changing dramatically.
The overall trend slope is positive but modest, so any improvement has been gradual rather than transformative. In practical terms, Shreveport is still very much an urban stargazing environment, even if the measurements hint at a small long-term gain.
From within Shreveport, the strongest targets are the bright, high-contrast ones that can punch through the city glow. The Moon and planets are the obvious choices, while double stars and a few of the brightest clusters can also give satisfying views.
A small number of showpiece deep-sky objects remain possible with patience and realistic expectations, especially the brightest nebulae and globulars. Even then, contrast is reduced and the sky background can look pale rather than truly dark.
For the Milky Way, faint galaxies, subtle nebula structure and the full impact of meteor activity, a darker site outside the city makes a major difference. Those are the kinds of targets that really reward the drive away from the urban light dome.
- Moon
- planets
- double stars
- brightest open clusters
- bright nebulae such as M42
- brightest globular clusters
- Milky Way
- faint galaxies
- broadband nebulae
- meteor showers
Can you see stars from Shreveport?
Yes — you can still see the brighter stars and the main constellation patterns from Shreveport. What you lose are many of the fainter stars that fill in the sky from darker locations.
Can you see the Milky Way from Shreveport?
Not realistically from within the city under these conditions. With an urban sky around SQM 18.14 and Bortle 8, the Milky Way is generally overwhelmed by skyglow.
What Bortle class is Shreveport?
Shreveport is Bortle 8, which is a strongly light-polluted city sky. That level is fine for the Moon and planets, but quite limiting for faint deep-sky observing.
What is the SQM reading for Shreveport?
The measured sky brightness is 18.14 SQM. In plain terms, that indicates a bright urban sky rather than a naturally dark one.
Where are the nearest dark skies to Shreveport?
The nearest strong improvement in the supplied nearby sites is 66 km NE, where the sky reaches Bortle 4. That is the closest clearly darker option listed for a worthwhile observing trip.
Is Shreveport good for astrophotography?
It can work for lunar, planetary and some brighter deep-sky astrophotography, especially with filters and careful processing. For wide-field Milky Way shots or faint nebula work, a darker site outside the city will give much better results.
How far do you need to drive from Shreveport for darker skies?
For a clearly worthwhile improvement, about 65 kilometres to the north-east is the nearest listed option, at 66 km NE with Bortle 4 skies. Some directions improve sooner than that, but the city glow remains noticeable until you are properly clear of the urban area.