Sky's Up Global Astronomy Magazine Volume V (July 2022) | Page 34

Under inky skies

The night sky over Desengano State Park — the first official Dark Sky Park in Latin America .

Latin America gets first official Dark Sky Park

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By JOÃO RAFAEL GOMES DE ALMEIDA MARINS , SAMIR MANSUR SANTOS , CARLOS DÁRIO MOREIRA , LETÍCIA LÜTKE RISKI and MARCELO DE OLIVEIRA SOUZA Guest contributors
COURTESY OF Samir Mansur

On December 21 , 2021 , the International Dark Sky Association made a fantastic announcement that was received as a great achievement by astronomy lovers in Latin America . Desengano State Park ( PED ), which is in the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil , was recognized as the first Dark Sky Park in Latin America . Desengano State Park , managed by the Instituto Estadual do Ambiente do Rio de Janeiro ( INEA ), has a total area of 22.400 hectares involving three cities , Santa Maria Madalena , Campos dos Goytacazes and São Fidélis . The administrative head office of PED is located within the Horto Central Florestal Santos Lima , a Forest Garden for seedling production , located in the municipality of Santa Maria Madalena . The Park is located in Serra do Mar ecorregion and it has two geomorphological units : the escarpment of the Serra do Imbé ( oceanic slope ) and the reverse escarpment of the Desengano Mountain range , in addition to the high-mountain