According to Qinghai Daily, on January 1st, China’s first local regulation on the protection of the dark night starry sky, “Regulations on the Environmental Protection of Astronomical Observations at Cold Lake in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture” was officially implemented.
There are 22 regulations, including the legislative purpose and basis, regional delimitation, scope of application, facilities management, departmental responsibilities, legal liability, penalties, and other content.
Lenghu astronomical observation base is located in the area of Saishteng Mountain, Lenghu Town, Mangye City, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, with an average altitude of around 4,000 meters.
The multi-year monitoring results show that the performance of key monitoring data required for optical astronomical observation, such as visual nimbleness and clear night time, in the region of Cold Lake Saishten Mountain is superior.
It is comparable to the location of international first-class large astronomical observatories.
In 2017, in order to cooperate with the location of the Saishten Observatory, the local government of Cold Lake studied and decided to have the whole area of 17,800 square kilometers included in the Dark Starry Night Reserve.
The regulations determine the area within 50 km outward of the Cold Lake astronomical observation environment area as the core area of dark night protection.
The area of 50 km outward from the boundary of the core area of dark night protection is determined as the buffer zone of dark night protection.
At the same time, the type and brightness of light sources within the core area of dark night protection and the direction of illumination of all outdoor fixed night lighting facilities are strictly regulated.
Regulations will be a strong support and guarantee the development of national astronomical observation.
Regulations will open up new paths for exploring the transformation and upgrading of industry and high-quality development in Haishi State.
Local special economic development oriented to star resources can form a positive interaction with the scientific research of the Cold Lake Astronomical Observatory.
This is not only beneficial to the dark sky environmental protection in the station area, but also can promote the development of the special economy.
