Renown for being the driest desert on Earth, the Atacama desert is a challenging environment for life to thrive. In fact, the average rainfall in this area is less than 1 mm per year, with some locations only getting rainfall once every several years. 

If drought was not enough, the Atacama desert also experiences extreme temperatures, getting as hot as 104 ºF during the day and as cold as 5º F at night. All this makes the climate particularly ideal for stargazing, as more than 90% of nights are clear with no clouds whatsoever. Additionally, due to its landscape similarities to Mars, NASA has used this site as an analog to Martian terrains to test mission instruments and evaluate their performance in extreme conditions. 

So, if you ever wanted to feel like a martian, the Atacama desert is your place to visit!

Photo by Craig Everroad