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The Atacama Desert (Spanish: Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau located on the Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile.Stretching over a 1,600-kilometre-long (1,000-mile) strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of 105,000 km 2 (41,000 sq mi), [2] which increases to 128,000 km 2 (49,000 sq mi) if the barren lower slopes of the Andes are included.
It is located in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile on Cerro Paranal at 2,635 m (8,645 ft) altitude, 120 km (70 mi) south of Antofagasta. By total light-collecting area, it is the largest optical-infrared observatory in the Southern Hemisphere; worldwide, it is second to the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii.
San Pedro de Atacama is a popular tourist destination. [8] There are various activities for adventurers in the San Pedro de Atacama area: trekking, climbing, archaeological sightings, amateur astronomy, exploration tours in natural landscapes and even sand boarding in the desert. Because of its altitude, a brief period of acclimatization may be ...
Cerro Paranal is a mountain in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and is the home of the Paranal Observatory.Prior to the construction of the observatory, the summit was a horizontal control point with an elevation of 2,664 m (8,740 ft); [1] now it is 2,635 m (8,645 ft) above sea level.
Salar de Tare, Atacama Desert. The reserve has a desert climate with the temperature varying dramatically between day (average temperature high is 25.3 °C (77.5 °F)) and night (average low is 3.7 °C (38.7 °F)). [6] Rain is more frequent in summer, with an average high of 3 millimeters.
Humberstone is a ghost town in the Atacama Desert of Chile. Developed for the extraction of saltpeter, it is a Chilean National Monument and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site designated as Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works. [1] [2] [3]