The Atacama Desert is considered one of the driest coastal deserts in the world. It forms a continuous strip for nearly 1,000 km along the narrow coast of the northern third region of Chile. It is a sparsely populated and rainless plateau, running east from the Pacific Ocean to the Andes Mountains. Vegetation must contend with an annual rainfall of approximately 1 mm in some regions, though it becomes slightly less arid moving southward. You will find valleys of Martian-red rock, snowless white ground, jewel-toned lakes and geysers.

The area has seen a boom in “astro-tourism,” drawing avid stargazers, astronomy enthusiasts, and astro-photographers from around the world who seek out unpolluted skies for the best views of distant galaxies, clusters of shining stars, and the nebulous Milky Way. The desert has a lucky combination of unique atmospheric conditions to thank for that.