Celestial features found in South American desert

Uncommon pure phenomena and geological mysteries are commonplace on the planet’s driest nonpolar desert, the Atacama of Northern Chile. Fields of geysers blast boiling water. Salt flats stretch for miles, punctuated by flamingoes in lagoons. And sometimes beautiful desert flowers burst into bloom after uncommon rainfall; some spots within the Atacama see just some millimeters of precipitation per decade.

Wedged between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains, this land of dry air additionally claims crystal clear evening skies, glowing with the southern constellations year-round. The entry level for vacationers (and plenty of researchers) is the artsy bohemian village of San Pedro de Atacama, located on a excessive Andean plateau 30 miles west of Bolivia.

Guests, it seems, may also spot celestial marvels within the dusty sand at their ft. Distinctive, glassy black rocks which are scattered throughout the northern Atacama had lengthy baffled geologists — till November of 2021, when a research in Geology pinpointed “equivalent meteoritic grains” (briefly, comet minerals) in these rock specimens. Mixed with different variables, the research’s authors concluded {that a} near-Earth comet seemingly exploded at low altitude, raining down fiery minerals that melted sand throughout the Atacama.

Maybe most surprisingly, the extraterrestrial occasion appears to have occurred 12,000 years in the past — fairly lately in astronomy and geology phrases. Hunter-gatherer teams seemingly occupied the area and might need witnessed the harrowing area bathe.