Stargazing in Taozhou, Anhui, China

Dark-sky rating for Taozhou

Taozhou, Anhui, China is a small city (population about 146,610). 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

• Purple Mountain Observatory · observatory · about 140 km away

Milky Way season in Taozhou

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 March, April, May, June, July, August, September, peaking in April at about 30°.

• The north celestial pole stands 30.9° above the horizon, so stars within 31° of it never set from here.
• About 75.7% 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 30.1° up, staying low, so a clear southern horizon matters.
• At 49 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 19, 2026 (UTC) the Moon is a Waxing Gibbous at 61% illumination. Aurora at 30.9° latitude generally needs about Kp 9.0.

Nearby places

• Xuancheng, Anhui, China
• Yixing, Jiangsu, China
• Huzhou, Zhejiang, China
• Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
• Wuhu, Anhui, China
• Changzhou, Jiangsu, China