The Atacama Desert, located in South America, is one of the driest places on Earth. Stretching across a 1,000-kilometer strip of land on the Pacific coast, it boasts unique climatic conditions. The desert's hyper-arid environment is due to its location between the Andes mountains and the cold currents of the Pacific Ocean.
Rain is a rarity here, with some weather stations in the core of the Atacama having never recorded any precipitation. This makes it a fantastic location for scientific research, particularly in astronomical observation due to the exceptionally clear skies.
Did you know? The Atacama is often used to test Mars exploration technologies due to its similar landscape!