SKY · STARGAZING · CHILE · DARK-SKY
Is Tonight Good for Stargazing in Atacama Desert?
Clear, dark skies tonight (about 11% cloud) with the Moon well out of the way. This is about as good as it gets — from a dark site away from city lights you'll see the Milky Way, faint stars, and any active meteor shower.
Worth looking for: Everything: planets, constellations, the Milky Way, meteor showers and faint deep-sky objects — given a dark horizon.
Live cloud reading
How dark is the sky over Atacama Desert?
Like most large cities, the centre of Atacama Desert sits high on the Bortle scale (around class 8), so the Milky Way and faint stars are lost to the glow. For dark sky, head well away from the city lights.
Even on the clearest, Moonless night, a bright city sky limits what you can see. For the Milky Way and faint stars from Atacama Desert, you'll need to travel well clear of the city lights.
Atacama Desert right now
More sky over Atacama Desert
SEE IT ON THE MAP
Live cloud cover over Atacama Desert, on the full map.