Night at the Shepherd Huts

The southern Milky Way shines above old Atacamenian shepherd huts in San Pedro de Atacama. The two Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are just above the horizon near the center. The Atacama Desert is a narrow strip of desert along the northwest coast of Chile, extends nearly 1600 km. Atacama is one of the driest places on Earth. In many areas rainfall has never been recorded. Consequently, an extremely arid, almost barren, landscape predominates. Because of its high altitude, nearly non-existent cloud cover, and lack of light pollution, Atacama desert is one of the best places in the world to observe the night sky.