• The Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) has been marked as India’s first Dark Sky Park and the fifth such park in Asia for protecting the night sky and preventing light pollution, making the facility ideal for astronomy enthusiasts.
• The certification was given by the International Dark-Sky Association, a global dark-sky movement to promote astronomy.

ABOUT PENCH TIGER RESERVE

• Pench Tiger Reserve or Pench National Park is one of the premier tiger reserves of India and the first one to straddle across two states – Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• The Reserve is located in the southern reaches of the Satpura hills in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts in Madhya Pradesh and in Nagpur district in Maharashtra as a separate Sanctuary.
• It is 25th tiger reserve of India.
• The Pench Tiger reserve (PTR) which derives its name from its lifeline – the River Pench is spread over 41 Sq.km of area.
• The fictional works of Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book, are set in the region.
  • Kipling himself never visited the area, instead basing his descriptions on other locations in India.
• Vegetation ranges from moist sheltered valley to an open, dry deciduous forest.
• Flora includes teak, saag, mahua, and various grasses and shrubs.
• Faunal species include tiger, leopard, sloth bear, Indian gaur, wild dog, wolf etc.

A DARK SKY PRESERVE

• A dark-sky preserve is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts artificial light pollution.
• The purpose of the dark-sky movement is generally to promote astronomy.
• The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO), a high-altitude astronomy station located in Hanle, and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, is India’s first dark-sky preserve.
  • Situated in the Western Himalayas at an elevation of 4,500 meters (14,764 ft), the IAO is one of the world’s highest located sites for optical, infrared and gamma-ray telescopes.