Light Pollution Map - Dark Sky

Dunbar Technology, LLC

In-app purchases

About this app

Find darker skies, plan better stargazing nights, and never miss what's happening overhead. Light Pollution Map combines detailed light pollution data with weather, aurora forecasts, astronomy events, Moon tools, ISS tracking, astrophotography utilities, and more.

Whether you're searching for a dark place to see the Milky Way, planning an astrophotography session, chasing the Aurora Borealis, or simply exploring the night sky, Light Pollution Map puts the tools you need in one place.

LIGHT POLLUTION & STARGAZING

• Light Pollution Map: Find dark skies near you with a detailed light pollution overlay and Bortle scale estimates. Adjust opacity, switch map types, and use the Horizon Safe Radius tool to identify areas away from distant light pollution.

• Live Sky Conditions: Check cloud cover, temperature, wind, precipitation, and other conditions before heading outside.

• Darkness Timer: See exactly when astronomical darkness begins and ends, with a live countdown to true night.

AURORA & SPACE WEATHER

• Aurora Borealis Tracker: Monitor the Kp index, aurora probability, solar wind speed and density, and interplanetary magnetic field (Bz). View NOAA aurora forecast maps for both hemispheres.

• Live Space Feeds: Watch aurora webcams from around the world, view current NASA SOHO solar imagery, and monitor live magnetosphere data.

MOON, ISS & NIGHT SKY

• Moon Tools: View Moon phases, illumination, rise and set times, and other lunar information. Use the Moon Position Tool to visualize azimuth and plan landscape astrophotography compositions.

• ISS Tracker: Follow the International Space Station on a live map, receive flyover alerts for your location, watch live ISS video feeds, and see who's currently aboard.

• Night Sky Calendar: Discover upcoming meteor showers, lunar eclipses, supermoons, and other notable astronomical events.

TOOLS & PERSONALIZATION

• Astrophotography Calculators: Calculate telescope magnification, orbital periods, star trails, astronomical unit conversions, and more.

• Custom Alerts: Get notifications for local and global aurora activity, meteor showers, supermoons, eclipses, ISS flyovers, and other celestial events.

• Location Manager: Save your favorite observing and dark-sky locations for quick access.

• Photo of the Day: Discover a new astronomy and space image every day.

• Home Screen Widgets: Keep aurora conditions, cloud cover, temperature, astronomy photos, and darkness times right on your home screen.

• Night & AMOLED Themes: Use darker themes while observing to reduce screen brightness, preserve night vision, and take advantage of AMOLED displays.

From casual stargazing to serious astrophotography, Light Pollution Map helps you find the darkness, conditions, timing, and celestial events that make a night under the stars worth the trip.

Some features require a Pro subscription.

Ratings and reviews

The Light Pollution Map app is a great tool for locating the darkest possible skies for observing the night sky. It has features that indicate the likelihood of an auroral display, especially during the current solar maximum. It also has a cloud cover overlay to indicate the presence of clouds. Give the free version a try, and check how much it may help your observing sessions

The Light Pollution Map app is amazing! I use it every time we travel to prepare for what kind of night skies to expect. When we travel I always pack a telescope or at least binoculars. If we are going into really dark skies I'll make room for a larger telescope. This app is invaluable to me when making those decisions. Thanks!

Easy to use and with a good interface, and the free version is useful and not merely an attempt to force a purchase. My only criticism, which I don't hold against the app itself since it's not the source of the data, is that the light pollution scale strikes me as a bit optimistic. For the (badly polluted) skies around me, I'd probably add .5 to 1 to the Bortle numbers that the map key shows. Though one might quibble about the absolute accuracy of the numbers, their relative accuracy is fine.

What’s new

Few bug fixes and performance improvements