The Jizera region of dark skies covers an area of almost . It is located in a nearly uninhabited part of the Jizera Mountains and lies halfway between the Czech and Polish sides of the mountain range. On the Czech side, it stretches from the settlement of
Jizerka to
Mount Smrk, while in Poland it continues along the High Jizera ridge and surrounds the
Jizera Meadow and the settlement of Orle. The park has several functions. Above all, it informs the general public about the issue of light pollution by showcasing its night sky as much darker than the sky in cities and their surroundings. On the Polish side, the park is part of the astro-tourism project Astro Izery.
Darkness Although the night sky in the Jizera dark sky region is significantly darker than in the cities, it is not as naturally dark as it would be with no light from Earth. The influence of light pollution from cities stretches tens of kilometers away. The brightness of the sky in Jizerka is approximately twice as high as a naturally dark sky without the influence of light pollution. Naturally dark night skies effectively do not occur in the densely populated
Central Europe region. The most prominent sources of light pollution that can be seen from the area are the cities of Liberec,
Jablonec and Nisou,
Tanvald, and
Jelenia Góra. The sky quality of that park expressed by the
Bortle scale is at level 4, and reaches level 3 under exceptionally good conditions. == References ==