Colorado Springs Stargazing & Astronomy Report

Light pollution and stargazing locations near Colorado Springs

City
Colorado Springs
Country
United States
Latitude
38.8339
Longitude
-104.8214

Key Sky Quality Metrics

SQM (mag/arcsec²)
18.42
Bortle class
Class 8 (Class 8)
Darkness Quotient
27%
Dataset
March 2026

City sky

Colorado Springs: The Practical Verdict

Colorado Springs is a large mountain-edge city in central Colorado, set against the Front Range and known for its dramatic high-country setting.

The city generally experiences high light pollution, with a Darkness Quotient of 27% — making it brighter than many smaller western towns, though still better placed than some of the largest urban centres in the United States.

In practical terms, the most reliable targets from within the city are the Moon, planets, double stars and the brightest open clusters. A few showpiece deep-sky objects can still be attempted, but faint nebulae, galaxies and the richer sweep of the Milky Way are largely washed out by skyglow.

The encouraging part is that a worthwhile improvement does not require an especially long journey. Around 50 kilometres to the north-north-east, near Near Elbert County, Colorado, skies improve to a genuinely useful level for deeper observing.

The map shows Colorado Springs as a strong, elongated core of intense light, with pink, red and yellow concentrated through the city and a broad blue-grey halo spreading well beyond it. That pattern is typical of a sizeable urban area whose glow affects a wide swathe of the surrounding sky rather than stopping sharply at the city edge.

The darkest regions on the crop sit mainly to the west, south-west and parts of the south, where the background drops towards black with fewer bright nodes. By contrast, the north and east are dotted with many smaller pools of light, so although the city glow thins out in those directions, it remains broken up by scattered settlements.

Overall, Colorado Springs stands out clearly as the brightest feature in its immediate surroundings, but it is not isolated. The map suggests that the quickest escape from the central glow comes by heading away from the urban chain and into the darker western and south-western sectors, while the plains to the north-east and east offer improvement too, though with more localised light domes along the way.

What the sky overhead is like

Looking straight up from Colorado Springs, the zenith sits in a bright city-sky regime at SQM 18.42. That means the overhead sky is far from black, and even when conditions are clear it tends to carry a persistent grey glow rather than the crisp darkness associated with rural observing.

The familiar brighter constellations still stand out well enough, and the main star patterns remain easy to trace once your eyes are adapted. What drops away are the fainter field stars between those patterns, so the sky looks simpler and less crowded than it would from a dark site.

For casual stargazing this is still enough for the Moon, planets and a fair number of bright stars, but it limits the sense of depth in the sky. The Milky Way is generally overwhelmed from the city itself, and subtle naked-eye features are hard to pick out overhead.

north - marginal

About 15 kilometres north of the city, the sky is still only marginal, around Bortle 6, so brighter targets remain the realistic focus. Conditions do improve further out, reaching a good level at around 50 kilometres, but genuinely dark skies are not reached within the sampled distance in this direction.

north-north-east - poor

Around 15 kilometres north-north-east, the sky remains poor at Bortle 7, with heavy urban influence still obvious. The real improvement comes farther out: skies become good by about 50 kilometres, and genuinely dark conditions appear at roughly 200 kilometres in this direction.

north-east - poor

At around 15 kilometres to the north-east, conditions are still poor at Bortle 7, so the city glow remains a major factor. This direction improves quickly beyond that, with genuinely dark skies reached at about 50 kilometres.

east-north-east - marginal

Roughly 15 kilometres east-north-east of Colorado Springs, the sky is marginal at Bortle 6, better than the city centre but still bright for faint objects. A much stronger improvement is available farther out, with genuinely dark skies reached at about 50 kilometres.

east - marginal

About 15 kilometres east of the city, the sky is marginal at Bortle 6, so there is some relief from the urban dome but not a dramatic one. Head farther out and this becomes one of the more rewarding directions, with genuinely dark skies reached at around 50 kilometres.

east-south-east - marginal

Around 15 kilometres east-south-east, the sky is still marginal at Bortle 6, making brighter deep-sky objects possible but not easy. A clearer step into dark-sky territory arrives at about 50 kilometres in this direction.

south-east - marginal

At roughly 15 kilometres south-east of the city, conditions are marginal at Bortle 6, so the background sky remains fairly bright. The direction improves well with distance, and genuinely dark skies are reached at about 50 kilometres.

south-south-east - marginal

About 15 kilometres south-south-east, the sky is marginal at Bortle 6, offering some improvement over the city but still not true darkness. Better conditions arrive farther out, with good skies by around 50 kilometres and genuinely dark skies at about 100 kilometres.

south - marginal

Roughly 15 kilometres south of Colorado Springs, the sky is marginal at Bortle 6, so faint targets remain challenging. This direction becomes good quite quickly, but genuinely dark skies are only reached much farther out, at around 200 kilometres.

south-south-west - fair

Around 15 kilometres south-south-west, the sky is fair at Bortle 5, giving a more noticeable improvement than most directions close to the city. It becomes good not far beyond that, and genuinely dark skies are reached at about 100 kilometres.

south-west - good

About 15 kilometres south-west of the city, the sky is already good at Bortle 4, making this one of the strongest quick-escape directions. Genuinely dark skies arrive by roughly 25 kilometres, so this is an especially promising route for a short stargazing drive.

west-south-west - good

At around 15 kilometres west-south-west, conditions are good at Bortle 4, with a clear improvement over the city centre. Continue farther and genuinely dark skies are reached at about 50 kilometres in this direction.

west - good

Roughly 15 kilometres west of Colorado Springs, the sky is good at Bortle 4, making it a very practical direction for a quick observing trip. Genuinely dark skies are reached at about 25 kilometres, so the improvement is both fast and meaningful.

west-north-west - fair

About 15 kilometres west-north-west, the sky is fair at Bortle 5, so the city glow is easing but still present. Conditions improve further with distance, reaching genuinely dark skies at around 50 kilometres.

north-west - fair

Around 15 kilometres north-west of the city, the sky is fair at Bortle 5, offering a useful but not dramatic gain. A stronger step up comes farther out, with genuinely dark skies reached at about 50 kilometres.

north-north-west - marginal

At roughly 15 kilometres north-north-west, the sky is marginal at Bortle 6, so it is still noticeably affected by city light. This direction does improve to good conditions farther out, but genuinely dark skies do not arrive until around 200 kilometres.

zenith - poor

Looking straight up from Colorado Springs, the zenith is poor at Bortle 8, with a bright urban background that suppresses the fainter stars. The main constellations are still easy to recognise, but the sky lacks richness and the Milky Way is generally lost against the glow.

  • Near Ouray County, Colorado
    Direction
    WSW
    Distance (km)
    259.6
    SQM
    21.68
    Bortle
    3

    Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

  • Near Rio Blanco County, Colorado
    Direction
    WNW
    Distance (km)
    268
    SQM
    21.59
    Bortle
    3

    Milky Way visible, broadband DSO imaging

  • Near Elbert County, Colorado
    Direction
    NNE
    Distance (km)
    50
    SQM
    20.98
    Bortle
    4

    Bright nebulae, galaxies, narrowband imaging

Historical Light Pollution Trends

The long-term picture is one of gradual brightening rather than dramatic change. SQM has shifted from 18.63 in the earliest record to 18.42 in the latest one, a decline of 0.21 over the full span.

That works out to a gentle downward trend of about 0.014 SQM per year, which is small in any single year but noticeable over time. Across 75 datasets, the city has varied between 18.18 and 18.81, so Colorado Springs remains consistently bright even though conditions do fluctuate from one period to another.

In practical terms, this suggests observers are not seeing a sudden collapse in sky quality, but neither is the city getting darker. The overall direction of travel is slowly away from natural darkness and towards a brighter urban sky.