BORTLE CLASS 5 / SKY KEY
Suburban sky
Skyglow is obvious, the Milky Way is weaker and the brighter clusters, nebulae, planets and Moon become the easy wins.
5
HOW TO READ IT
One number is a sketch of the sky, not the whole night.
A Bortle class describes what the sky looks like under particular conditions. Walk across a large park, turn toward a town, add snow or smoke, and the view can change. Use the number to compare darkness quickly, then read the stop page for the horizon, headlights, access and everything else that decides whether the place actually works.
Colorado stops currently logged as Bortle 5
Aspen Stargazing / The Gant listingEstimated Bortle 5 from modeled sky-brightness/light-pollution data at the guide location. Bortle is observational, so treat this as roughly ±1 class until field checked. ↗Durango Welcome Center Dark Sky KitsEstimated Bortle 5 from modeled sky-brightness/light-pollution data at the guide location. Bortle is observational, so treat this as roughly ±1 class until field checked. ↗Estes Park Memorial ObservatoryEstimated Bortle 5 from modeled sky-brightness/light-pollution data at the guide location. Bortle is observational, so treat this as roughly ±1 class until field checked. ↗Lake Pueblo State ParkEstimated Bortle 5 from modeled sky-brightness/light-pollution data at the guide location. Bortle is observational, so treat this as roughly ±1 class until field checked. ↗UNM-Taos Cielo CentroEstimated Bortle 5 from modeled sky-brightness/light-pollution data at the guide location. Bortle is observational, so treat this as roughly ±1 class until field checked. ↗