Stargazing at Atacama Desert in August
near San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Figures for August 2027, calculated by us. Times are local.
Milky Way season
In mid-August the sky is fully dark from about 19:33 to 05:41, 10 hours a night. The bright centre of the Milky Way is well up from about 19:42 to 02:12.
The darkest nights in August 2027
Nights when the Moon is down for almost all of the dark hours:
- 29 Jul to 4 Aug 2027 (7 nights)
- 27 Aug to 2 Sept 2027 (7 nights)
- New Moon: 2 August 2027
- Full Moon: 17 August 2027
- New Moon: 31 August 2027
What to know
- The European Southern Observatory calls the Atacama one of the driest places on Earth, with over 300 clear nights a year.
- Several of the world’s major observatories are in northern Chile, including ESO’s Paranal and La Silla sites and ALMA.
- It is in the southern hemisphere, so the centre of the Milky Way passes high overhead in the southern winter.
Plan more than one night. A local operator in San Pedro warns that coming for a single night is risky, and advises avoiding the full Moon.
Get a note when it is worth going out
A short email before an eclipse, a strong meteor shower or a dark week worth planning for. No more than a few a month.
Atacama Desert: the whole year. All five dark-sky places.
Sources
- Darkness, Moon and Milky Way: our calculation, Astronomy Engine 2.1.19 (MIT licence). How we worked it out.
- ESO, Reflections of Paranal.
- San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations, the astronomical Chile.