About the Bortle Scale Estimator

Estimates your sky's Bortle class from visual cues, an SQM reading, or direct lookup.

What it is

Three ways to find your Bortle class: a guided questionnaire about what's visible in your sky, a direct Sky Quality Meter (SQM) reading mapped to the standard correspondence table, or browsing the full reference table of all 9 classes.

Features

Guided questionnaire

Plain-language questions map to a best-estimate class.

Reference table

All 9 classes with name, limiting magnitude, and description.

SQM input

Maps a magnitude-per-arcsecond reading to the nearest class.

Honest framing

Explicitly noted as approximate, not a precise measurement.

Ready to use it?

Free, no sign-up required.

Open the Bortle Scale Estimator