BBC Fast Track - Stargazing in the Atacama Desert
May 17, 2013
With high altitude plateaus, clear skies and low humidity, Chile is becoming a popular destination with the international scientific community and is home to many of the world’s most powerful observatories.
High up In the Atacama Desert, 5,000m (16,400ft) above sea level is one of the world's largest astronomical projects - the Atacama Large Millimetre/sub-millimetre Array (Alma).
The project uses radio telescopes to pick up wavelengths of light that are invisible to the human eye and may help reveal the origins of the Universe.
Michelle Jana Chan finds out more.