Bright night sky around cities

A "problem" with this Astro tracker is that I do live in Stockholm (Southern suburbs) - which is a damn bright city.

Bortle Skies

Rågsved, Snösätra

I think my sky here in Rågsved is a Bortle 6-7 sky - not that far away from the brightest night skies you can think of (which is Bortle 9+). Not as bad as Tokyo, but not that far off either. OK, Rågsved is actually a notch darker... I mean i have shown that when i take images of star trails, that a lot of fainter stars are visible. So, it is bad, but not that bad (it could be worse).

Segersäng

The darkest skies in my area, would be a Bortle 5 sky (in 2026), somewhere north of Nynäshamn, way in the south of Stockholm. While Nynäshamn is actually a place with LOTS of light - but "Segersäng" is located quite a bit away from it. (Daniel and I were there once, doing Northern Light photography - see images below).

It was so awesome there and we had huge fun (But it was also very cold with -11°C). He had a car, so it wasn't a problem to go out into the cold winter night.

At Segersäng is a commuter train station with the same name - practically "in the middle of nowhere" - giving me access to significantly darker skies if desired. I wouldn't want to be there when it is ass cold, though... You still have to walk a couple kilometers away from the commuter train station, in order to access more open fields.

Notice:

I have never had a star tracker. So, we made the stars stay dots, with a combination of super bright lenses and high ISO and relatively short shutter speeds.

Some images from March 2013

Bromo Volcano, Tengger Caldera - Java Indonesia

The darkest skies I have ever experienced in my life (Bortle 1). When Daniel and I lived for 9 days at the Bromo Volcano; being inside the mighty, overwhelming Tengger Caldera whose bottom is located at a height of 2100 meter, on the island of Java in Indonesia.

That was PITCH DARK during a moonless night. It was so dark, that i tested to see if planet Venus really can cast a shadow onto the palm of my hand (by raising one finger in front of my hand).

And she did cast a shadow. We were mesmerized by that night sky up there. Absolutely phenomenal.

Stromboli volcano

Second out, among the darkest skies I've experienced, was on the island of Stromboli, among the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily. Italy is oozing with lights everywhere - but the islands are perhaps one of the best locations with less light. Especially Stromboli - where they often turn off most lights after midnight. Then it gets really dark - which is an amazing experience under moonless nights.

I would say equivalent to a Bortle 2, perhaps a notch towards Bortle 3 night sky. It depends a lot on the seasons and how clear the air itself is. Usually clearer during winter, than in Summer. But i have never visited the island during winter.

Hawai'i Big Island, Ocean View

I almost forgot. Now that too was an extremly dark place with barely any lights at all. I would say a Bortle 1 sky. Absolutely fascinating to experience.

Nikkaluokta, Laponia

Also a very dark sky we experienced was high up in the north during a polar night, in an extreme remote part afoot the mountains. A village which doesn't even look like one, because there was almost nothing there, other than a few houses and a church. That location too, had a very dark sky.

The town of Kiruna and its lights 65 km away, looked like an illuminated space ship UFO (light cone) in the distance / at the horizon.

Bortle 2- I would say, and among the darkest you can get in Sweden (there are other locations in Sweden with very dark skies, though - mainly in the north "Norrland")