Sioux Falls Stargazing & Astronomy Report
Light pollution and stargazing locations near Sioux Falls
- City
- Sioux Falls
- Country
- United States
- Latitude
- 43.5473
- Longitude
- -96.7283
Key Sky Quality Metrics
- SQM (mag/arcsec²)
- 17.74
- Bortle class
- Class 9 (Class 9)
- Darkness Quotient
- 21%
- Dataset
- March 2026
Inner city sky
Sioux Falls stargazing at a glance
Sioux Falls is the largest city in South Dakota, a regional urban centre on the northern Great Plains with a broad, open-sky setting and a growing metropolitan feel.
The city generally experiences High Light Pollution, with a Darkness Quotient of 21% — placing it among the more light-polluted urban skies in the region, even if it is not quite at the very worst extreme.
For practical observing from within the city, the most reliable targets are the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters. Fainter deep-sky objects are heavily washed out by the urban glow, with only a few showpiece objects managing to push through.
The encouraging news is that a worthwhile improvement does not require a huge journey. Around 40 kilometres to the south-east, near 40 km SE, skies improve to a genuinely useful level, and even darker conditions appear farther out to the east and south-south-west.
The map shows Sioux Falls as a concentrated bright core surrounded by a broad halo of skyglow, with the city standing out clearly against the darker prairie around it. The central urban area appears in the hottest colours, then fades through brighter surrounding tones into cooler blues as you move away from town.
What is especially noticeable is how quickly the western side of the map falls away into darker territory. To the west and south-west, the background becomes much darker and less continuous, suggesting a cleaner break from the city's light dome than on the eastern side.
By contrast, the east and north-east look busier and more illuminated overall, with many smaller bright patches and a more persistent blue-green glow across the landscape. In other words, Sioux Falls is much brighter than its immediate surroundings, but the wider region still offers several promising escape routes once you leave the urban halo behind.
What the sky overhead is like
Looking straight up from Sioux Falls, the sky is bright enough that the urban glow remains obvious even overhead rather than staying confined to the horizon. The zenith sits in an inner-city regime, so contrast is poor and the background sky never takes on a truly dark appearance.
Familiar constellations are still visible, but they tend to look thinned out, with many of the fainter linking stars missing. The brightest stars, planets and the Moon remain easy targets, while subtler naked-eye sights are much harder to appreciate.
For telescope users, this means high-contrast objects fare best. Wide, faint structures and delicate low-surface-brightness targets are where the city sky becomes most limiting.
north - fair
About 15 kilometres north of the city, the sky improves to fair quality, with conditions around Bortle 5. Genuinely dark skies are reachable in this direction after roughly 50 kilometres, where the sky reaches Bortle 3.
north-north-east - fair
About 15 kilometres north-north-east of Sioux Falls, the sky is fair for a quick outing, at around Bortle 5. It improves notably farther out, with genuinely dark conditions reached after roughly 50 kilometres.
north-east - marginal
Around 15 kilometres to the north-east, conditions are marginal, sitting around Bortle 6 rather than truly dark rural sky. A much better result appears farther out, with Bortle 3 darkness reached after about 50 kilometres.
east-north-east - marginal
At roughly 15 kilometres east-north-east of the city, the sky remains marginal at about Bortle 6. The picture improves strongly with distance, reaching genuinely dark Bortle 3 conditions after around 50 kilometres.
east - fair
A short drive east brings fair sky quality by around 15 kilometres, with conditions near Bortle 5. Continue farther and this becomes one of the stronger directions, with Bortle 3 darkness reached after about 50 kilometres.
east-south-east - fair
Around 15 kilometres east-south-east, the sky is fair rather than dark, at about Bortle 5. It continues improving with distance, with genuinely dark conditions appearing after about 100 kilometres.
south-east - fair
About 15 kilometres to the south-east, conditions are fair at roughly Bortle 5. This direction offers a useful nearby improvement, and genuinely dark Bortle 3 sky is reached after about 100 kilometres.
south-south-east - marginal
At around 15 kilometres south-south-east, the sky is still marginal, sitting near Bortle 6. A stronger improvement arrives farther out, with genuinely dark conditions reached after about 50 kilometres.
south - marginal
Roughly 15 kilometres south of Sioux Falls, the sky remains marginal at about Bortle 6. There is some steady improvement beyond that, but genuinely dark Bortle 3 conditions do not arrive until about 200 kilometres out.
south-south-west - marginal
Around 15 kilometres to the south-south-west, the sky is marginal, with brightness around Bortle 6. It improves well with distance, reaching genuinely dark Bortle 3 conditions after about 100 kilometres.
south-west - marginal
At roughly 15 kilometres south-west, the sky is marginal at about Bortle 6 for quick-drive observing. Travel farther and this becomes a strong escape route, with Bortle 3 darkness reached after about 50 kilometres.
west-south-west - fair
About 15 kilometres west-south-west of the city, the sky is fair, around Bortle 5. This is a promising direction, with genuinely dark Bortle 3 conditions arriving after roughly 50 kilometres.
west - fair
Around 15 kilometres west, conditions improve to fair quality at about Bortle 5. Continue outward and the sky becomes properly dark after roughly 50 kilometres, reaching Bortle 3.
west-north-west - fair
At roughly 15 kilometres west-north-west, the sky is fair for suburban observing, near Bortle 5. A substantially darker sky appears farther out, with Bortle 3 conditions reached after about 50 kilometres.
north-west - fair
About 15 kilometres north-west of Sioux Falls, the sky is fair, at roughly Bortle 5. This direction improves well with distance, reaching genuinely dark Bortle 3 sky after about 50 kilometres.
north-north-west - fair
Around 15 kilometres north-north-west, the sky is fair at about Bortle 5. It continues to improve beyond the near outskirts, with genuinely dark Bortle 3 conditions reached after about 100 kilometres.
zenith - poor
Looking straight up from within Sioux Falls, the zenith is poor, with an overhead sky around Bortle 9. The brightest constellations and a handful of major stars remain visible, but the sky background is strongly brightened and many familiar fainter patterns are lost.
-
105 km SSW
- Direction
- SSW
- Distance (km)
- 105.2
- SQM
- 21.40
- Bortle
- 3
Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging
-
55 km E
- Direction
- E
- Distance (km)
- 55.2
- SQM
- 21.29
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
-
40 km SE
- Direction
- SE
- Distance (km)
- 40.2
- SQM
- 21.01
- Bortle
- 4
Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging
Sioux Falls is fairly well placed by city standards: genuinely darker skies are reachable with a modest drive rather than a major expedition.
The nearest really useful step up is about 40 kilometres to the south-east at 40 km SE, where conditions reach Bortle 4, while an even darker option lies about 55 kilometres east at 55 km E. If you are willing to go farther, around 105 kilometres to the south-south-west at 105 km SSW brings a still darker Bortle 3 sky.
-
Within 50 km
- Place
- 40 km SE
- Direction
- SE
- Distance (km)
- 40.2
- SQM
- 21.01
- Bortle
- 4
-
Within 100 km
- Place
- 55 km E
- Direction
- E
- Distance (km)
- 55.2
- SQM
- 21.29
- Bortle
- 4
-
Within 200 km
- Place
- 105 km SSW
- Direction
- SSW
- Distance (km)
- 105.2
- SQM
- 21.40
- Bortle
- 3
Long-term trend
Across the long run, Sioux Falls appears broadly stable rather than dramatically changing. The recorded sky brightness shifts only slightly from 17.63 SQM in the earliest data to 17.74 SQM in the latest, which points to little overall movement in practical terms.
There is some variation within the record, with readings ranging from 17.3 to 22 SQM, but the average sits at 17.9 SQM. The trend slope is very small, so observers in the city are unlikely to feel that the night sky has either markedly improved or sharply deteriorated based on this dataset alone.
In everyday use, that means the city remains a bright urban observing environment where local conditions may fluctuate, but the overall experience is still dominated by strong artificial skyglow.
From within Sioux Falls, the city sky strongly favours bright, high-contrast targets. The Moon and planets are the obvious standouts, and double stars can still be rewarding because they are far less affected by skyglow than faint diffuse objects.
A few showpiece deep-sky objects are possible with patience, especially bright nebulae such as M42 and the very brightest globular clusters. Even so, they will usually look more muted than they would from a darker site, with less structure and weaker surrounding star fields.
For the Milky Way, faint galaxies, large nebulae and meteor watching, a trip outside the city makes a dramatic difference. Those are the kinds of targets that benefit most from the darker skies available beyond Sioux Falls's immediate glow.
- Moon
- planets
- double stars
- brightest open clusters
- bright nebulae such as M42
- the brightest globular clusters
- Milky Way
- faint galaxies
- broadband nebulae
- meteor showers
Can you see stars from Sioux Falls?
Yes — you can still see stars from Sioux Falls, especially the brighter ones and the main constellation patterns. The problem is not total invisibility, but loss of fainter stars against the bright urban sky.
Can you see the Milky Way from Sioux Falls?
For most observers within the city, the Milky Way is not realistically visible. The sky is simply too bright, so you would want to head out to darker rural areas for a proper view.
What Bortle class is Sioux Falls?
Sioux Falls is Bortle Class 9, which is an inner-city sky. In practical terms, that means severe light pollution and a strong preference for bright targets.
What is the SQM reading in Sioux Falls?
The measured sky brightness is 17.74 SQM. That is firmly on the bright side for astronomical observing and matches the very washed-out appearance of the urban night sky.
Where are the nearest dark skies to Sioux Falls?
The nearest really worthwhile darker sky in the supplied locations is about 40 kilometres to the south-east at 40 km SE, where conditions reach Bortle 4. A darker Bortle 3 site appears about 105 kilometres to the south-south-west at 105 km SSW.
Is Sioux Falls good for astrophotography?
It can work for lunar, planetary and some narrow-field bright-object astrophotography from within the city. For wide-field nightscapes, the Milky Way or faint deep-sky imaging, you will get much better results by driving out to darker skies.
How far do you need to drive from Sioux Falls for better stargazing?
A noticeable improvement is available after about 40 kilometres, where skies reach Bortle 4 to the south-east. If you want a more clearly dark-sky experience, plan on roughly 55 to 105 kilometres depending on direction and how dark you want it to be.