How dark is the sky in Norway?
Sky darkness for 69 towns and parks in Norway, worked out from NASA satellite images of light at night (2025). 36 of them have skies of Bortle 4 or darker, where the Milky Way shows overhead. The darkest is Børgefjell National Park (21.91, Bortle 2), the brightest Tromsø (17.02, Bortle 8).
19
Bortle class, 1 pristine to 9 city center
park or dark-sky place
city
Numbers like 21.95 or 16.97 are the brightness of the sky overhead on a clear, moonless night, in mag/arcsec². The scale runs backwards: a lower number means a brighter sky, from about 22 for a natural sky to about 17 in a city center.
How the readings are made
Darkest skies in Norway
- Børgefjell National ParkTrøndelag · Bortle 221.91
- Lierne National ParkTrøndelag · Bortle 221.91
- Anárjohka National ParkFinnmark · Bortle 321.89
- Femundsmarka National ParkInnlandet · Bortle 321.89
- Gutulia National ParkInnlandet · Bortle 321.89
Among the places on this site. Plenty of land between them is just as dark, with no town or park to name it by.
Darkest place in each county of Norway
| County | Places | Dark places Bortle 1 to 4 | Darkest place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agder | 4 places | 0 dark | Raet National Park19.92 · Bortle 5 |
| Akershus | 3 places | 0 dark | Østmarka National Park19.31 · Bortle 6 |
| Buskerud | 2 places | 1 dark | Hallingskarvet National Park21.81 · Bortle 3 |
| Finnmark | 4 places | 4 dark | Anárjohka National Park21.89 · Bortle 3 |
| Innlandet | 13 places | 11 dark | Femundsmarka National Park21.89 · Bortle 3 |
| Møre og Romsdal | 3 places | 0 dark | Molde19.32 · Bortle 6 |
| Nordland | 8 places | 7 dark | Lomsdal-Visten National Park21.80 · Bortle 3 |
| Oslo | 1 place | 0 dark | Oslo17.19 · Bortle 8 |
| Rogaland | 3 places | 0 dark | Haugesund18.44 · Bortle 7 |
| Telemark | 2 places | 0 dark | Skien18.28 · Bortle 8 |
| Troms | 6 places | 4 dark | Reisa National Park21.79 · Bortle 3 |
| Trøndelag | 8 places | 6 dark | Børgefjell National Park21.91 · Bortle 2 |
| Vestfold | 4 places | 0 dark | Horten19.12 · Bortle 6 |
| Vestland | 4 places | 3 dark | Jostedalsbreen National Park21.87 · Bortle 3 |
| Østfold | 4 places | 0 dark | Halden18.74 · Bortle 7 |