Stargazing in Mentougou, Beijing, China

Dark-sky rating for Mentougou

Mentougou, Beijing, China is a small city (population about 197,772). A place this size typically has a rural to suburban transition: the Milky Way core can be glimpsed on clear, moonless nights. That is an estimate of Bortle class 4–5 from population, not a measurement: the real value depends on the exact spot you observe from.

For a measured reading at any point, open the live Dark Sky map.

Nearest dark-sky places and observatories

• Xinglong Station · observatory · about 136 km away

Milky Way season in Mentougou

The bright core of the Milky Way stays low, so you need a clear southern or northern horizon. It climbs at least 20° above the horizon during astronomical darkness in April, May, June, July, August, peaking in June at about 21°.

• The north celestial pole stands 39.9° above the horizon, so stars within 40° of it never set from here.
• About 82.1% of the whole sky rises above the horizon at some point in the year from this latitude.
• The Milky Way's core in Sagittarius culminates about 21.1° up, staying low, so a clear southern horizon matters.
• At 111 m elevation, roughly 1% of the atmosphere's mass is already below you, which measurably reduces extinction near the horizon.

Tonight and aurora

As of October 13, 2026 (UTC) the Moon is a Waxing Crescent at 10% illumination. Aurora at 39.9° latitude generally needs about Kp 9.0.

Nearby places

• Beijing, Beijing, China
• Tongzhou, Beijing, China
• Langfang, Hebei, China
• Sanhe, Hebei, China
• Xuanhua, Hebei, China
• Tianjin, Tianjin, China