Ideal Stargazing Place
Northern Chile is the best area to look up because it has the Southern Hemisphere's brightest night skies. Celestial wonder enthusiasts won't want to miss the opportunity to observe the heavens filled with stars. Observatories for astronomy benefit from Chile's low levels of light pollution and more than 300 days of clear skies per year.
Several are accessible for visitors, including ALMA, the largest astronomical project ever, which is located at 16,597 feet in the Atacama Desert and houses 66 radio telescopes. Paranal Observatory, which is also in the Atacama, features a collection of four 27-foot-diameter telescopes. For a more personal encounter, visit the Cerro Tololo Observatory if you're in the Coquimbo area of northern Chile. These and other Chilean sky labs are still producing significant findings.
The Atacama Desert's settlements on the altiplano are the ideal locations for stargazers to literally take in the sky's abundance of stars. Since there is a greater likelihood of cloud cover closer to the coast, you are nearly guaranteed clear sky inland at altitude. The less light pollution there is and the more breathtaking the view, the smaller the town.
The year-round activity is this. The austral summer, which lasts from December to March, has a higher likelihood of cloudy sky. A full moon should be avoided since the brightness it produces will "blot out" most of the stars. A new moon is the ideal time. There are numerous online moon calendars you may use to schedule your trip in accordance with the moon's phases.
