Dark Sky preserve

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A Dark Sky Preserve is a region where light pollution control is enforced.

The first of those preserves was the Torrences Barrens in Ontario, Canada. Nevertheless, protection zone around observatories were existing well before the creation of this preserve.

Since there is no official standard at this moment for the establishment of a dark sky preserve, this is a selft-proclaim status. This reduce the significance of the designation. In some case, dark sky preserve are neither dark, nor really protected.

At the opposite, some observatories are surrounded by a protection zone where the light pollution is controled even if they are not designed as a dark sky preserve.

[edit] List of Dark Sky Preserve

Name	Country	Area [ha]	Bortle Scale
Cypress Hills	Canada	39600	2
Elk Island	Canada	19200	4.5
Mont Mégantic	Canada	5845	3
Mount Kobau	Canada	4710	3
McDonald Park	Canada	2225	6
Torrance Barrens	Canada	1990	3
Lake Hudson State Recreational Area	USA	890	3
Potawatomi Wildlife Park	USA	116	4.5
Cherry Springs State Park	USA	20	3

[edit] List of protection zone des zones around observatories

Name	Country	Radius [km]
McDonald Observatory	USA	92
Kitt Peak	USA	56
Mont Mégantic	Canada	50
Mount Palomar	USA	48
Mount Hopkins	USA	40
Monte Ekar	Italy	30
Asiago	Italy	30
Mount Laguna	USA	24
Observatoire de Haute-Provence	France	15
Ondřejov	Czech Republic	10
Klet	Czech Republic	10
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory	Canada	5