CONTEMPORARY ART
Photo Inspiration for
AERO 21

Salar de Atacama, Chile
The desert runs along part of South America's central west coast. It is considered one of the driest places on Earth. Being a 'coastal desert', the cold, upwelling waters of the Pacific Ocean inhibit rain from reaching the land. Instead, the winds that blow from the ocean bring fog.
Because of the Atacama plateau's high altitude, low cloud cover and lack of light pollution, it is one of the best places in the world to conduct astronomical observations and is home to two major observatories.
Some areas of the desert have been compared to the planet Mars, and have been used as a location for filming scenes set on the red planet. The European Space Agency (ESA) has even tested a self-steering rover in the Atacama, which was selected for its similarities to martian conditions.
Photo taken in
November 17, 2017
Copernicus Sentinel