Stargazing in Young, New South Wales, Australia

Dark-sky rating for Young

Young, New South Wales, Australia is a small town (population about 10,160). A place this size typically has a rural sky: the Milky Way is usually visible on clear, moonless nights away from local lighting. That is an estimate of Bortle class 1–4 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

• Parkes Observatory (Murriyang) · observatory · about 146 km away

Milky Way season in Young

The bright core of the Milky Way passes almost directly overhead. It climbs at least 20° above the horizon during astronomical darkness in February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, peaking in April at about 84°.

• The south celestial pole stands 34.3° above the horizon, so stars within 34° of it never set from here.
• About 78.2% 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 84.7° up, passing almost directly overhead.
• The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are circumpolar here — visible on any clear, dark night of the year.
• At 438 m elevation, roughly 5% of the atmosphere's mass is already below you, which measurably reduces extinction near the horizon.

Tonight and aurora

As of November 6, 2026 (UTC) the Moon is a Waning Crescent at 7% illumination. Aurora at 34.3° latitude generally needs about Kp 9.0.

Nearby places

• Canberra, ACT, Australia
• Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia