Atacama's Night Sky

The Clearest Night Sky in the World

The Atacama Desert has the clearest night sky on Earth — and that's no exaggeration. The combination of extreme dryness (almost no clouds, almost no humidity), altitude (2,400–5,000 m, less atmosphere between you and the stars), minimal light pollution, and stable atmosphere makes the Atacama the best place in the world for astronomical observations.

It's no wonder the largest telescopes of humanity are located here: The ALMA Observatory (66 radio telescopes at 5,050 m, the most expensive ground observatory in the world), the Paranal Observatory of the ESO (European Southern Observatory) with the Very Large Telescope, and the under-construction Extremely Large Telescope, which will be the largest optical telescope in the world with a diameter of 39 meters.

What You Can See

With the naked eye:

• The Milky Way in a breathtaking level of detail — with dark dust clouds, bright star clusters, and the luminous band stretching across the entire sky
• The Magellanic Clouds — two dwarf galaxies visible from the Southern Hemisphere (not from Europe!)
• Star clusters like the Pleiades and Omega Centauri
• Planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Mars shine so brightly they cast shadows

With a telescope:

• Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moons in sharp clarity
• Nebulae: Orion Nebula, Eta Carinae Nebula, Tarantula Nebula
• Galaxies: Andromeda Galaxy, Centaurus A