See This Year's Best Photos of the Milky Way

“The Salt Road”

A lonely road winding through Chile’s Atacama Desert. Photo: Alexis Trigo

Chile’s Atacama Desert is famous for its clear views of the night sky; that’s why so many telescopes (as well as the largest digital camera ever built) are set up there. This photo captures the loneliness of the Atacama under cover of night, with a winding road through the desert’s rocky reaches mirroring the linear structure of the Milky Way as seen from Earth.

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