Poloniny Dark Sky Park

The Poloniny Dark Sky Park (Park tmavej oblohy Poloniny) is in the far north east of Slovakia, where the country meets Poland and Ukraine. The park was declared in Snina on December 3, 2010, as Slovakia's first dark sky area. Its memorandum was signed by the Slovak Union of Amateur Astronomers, the Slovak Academy of Sciences' Astronomical Institute, the national park administration and others. It covers Poloniny National Park (29,805 hectares), its buffer zone (10,973 hectares) and the cadastral areas of Kolonica, Ladomírov, Kalná Roztoka, Klenová and Ruská Volová (7,741 hectares), for 48,519 hectares in total.

The park's site calls it the darkest place in Slovakia. It gives an average sky brightness of 21.5 mag/arcsec², ranging from 21.3 to 21.7 depending on place and conditions, which it equates to Bortle 2 to 3. On good nights the naked eye limit reaches about magnitude 7.4, and zodiacal light, the zodiacal band and the gegenschein are visible. Our own map estimate is Bortle 4. The mountains block direct views of lights from nearby towns, and the 49th parallel runs through the park.

The Astronomical Observatory at Kolonické sedlo, between Kolonica and Ladomírov on the road from Snina to the Ubľa border crossing, has a planetarium, lodging and Slovakia's largest telescope, a 1 meter reflector. The park also publishes a map of dark observing spots for experienced amateurs with portable gear. The core only reaches about 12 degrees above the southern horizon here, and our data gives May, April and August the most core hours.