A Rare Touch of Snow

The Atacama Desert is one of the most extreme places on Earth. The average annual rainfall in this region barely reaches 15 millimetres, and the dry, arid conditions — which have lasted for the past three million years — make it one of the most wonderful places from which to observe the Universe. This image shows the Atacama Desert’s Chajnantor Plateau in the aftermath of something extraordinary in this region — snowfall.