Treasures of the desert

At first glance, this shot might look straight out of the “Dune” films, but this spectacular sunset scene actually takes place in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, where the air is so dry and clean that colours shine through more vividly. This desert’s rocky and sandy landscape may not hide mind-bending “spice” or giant worms, but it holds something arguably as precious — can you see its silhouette in the distance? 

The Atacama Desert’s privileged atmospheric conditions make it an excellent location for ground-based observations of the cosmos. In the photo, ESO staff member Simon Lowery poses on Cerro Armazones, where construction for ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope is well underway. On the mountain range behind him stands ESO’s Paranal Observatory — you can see the domes of our Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the VLT Survey Telescope on the central peak and the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy farther off to the right. 

Still, the desert’s otherworldly appearance has been recognised by many filmmakers, who have used it to film scenes set on Mars — for example, in the television series “Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets”. Perhaps someone should give the makers of “Dune 3” a call?

Credit:

S. Lowery/ESO

About the Image

Id:potw2416a
Type:Photographic
Release date:15 April 2024, 06:00
Size:5760 x 3240 px

About the Object

Name:Cerro Armazones, Cerro Paranal, Paranal, Very Large Telescope
Type:Unspecified : Technology : Observatory
Category:Paranal

Image Formats

Large JPEG
1.4 MB
Publication JPEG
627.3 KB
Screensize JPEG
72.0 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
93.9 KB
1280x1024
125.9 KB
1600x1200
165.2 KB
1920x1200
193.7 KB
2048x1536
243.2 KB