Atacama Desert, Chile

Caspana, Chile

Very Large Telescope. Cerro Paranal, Chile.

Astronomer's residencia. Cerro Paranal, Chile.

ALMA, one of the shooting locations for my next film, a global collaboration to make the oldest parts of the cosmos visible for the first time. At 17,000 ft, this is the highest observatory in the world and the largest astronomy project in human history.

Lasana, Chile

Chincorro Mummy. Atacama Desert, Chile.

Chiu Chiu, Chile

Valle de la Luna, Chile

Ayquina, Chile. I didn't take this photo, but what I saw here was equally as mysterious...take a look at these glowing, dancing bears! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAbxG3xa1SU&feature=related

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Detail of ground in high altitude desert, northern Chile. Photo by Becky Calinsky.

Mitsy. San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.

Chincorro Mummy. Atacama Desert, Chile.

Spent two days ascending 17,000 ft in the Chilean desert (on the border of Bolivia) to the second highest building in the world, which houses the world's most powerful supercomputer, recently built to make the oldest parts of the cosmos visible for the first time. This is the driest place on the entire planet...the lack of water vapor in the air allows the milky way to be so visible it can cast your shadow. I was grateful for the oxygen mask. Chajnantor, Chile. November 2011. Photo by Stephane Guisard.

Cerro Paranal, Chile

This room was built into the astronomer's residencia at Cerro Paranal so that they have "natural" air humidity to breathe. It felt mildly tropical inside...just outside is the world's driest desert. Nothing lives there...aside from the astronomers and people mining most of the world's copper a few hours away in the largest open pits on the planet.

Very Large Telescope, Cerro Paranal. Photo by Yuri Beletsky. A group of astronomers were observing the centre of the Milky Way using the laser guide star facility at Yepun, one of the four Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Yepun’s laser beam crosses the majestic southern sky and creates an artificial star at an altitude of 90 km high in the Earth's mesosphere. The Laser Guide Star (LGS) is part of the VLT’s adaptive optics system and is used as a reference to correct the blurring effect of the atmosphere on images. The colour of the laser is precisely tuned to energise a layer of sodium atoms found in one of the upper layers of the atmosphere — one can recognise the familiar colour of sodium street lamps in the colour of the laser. This layer of sodium atoms is thought to be a leftover from meteorites entering the Earth’s atmosphere. When excited by the light from the laser, the atoms start glowing, forming a small bright spot that can be used as an artificial reference star for the adaptive optics. Using this technique, astronomers can obtain sharper observations. For example, when looking towards the centre of our Milky Way, researchers can better monitor the galactic core, where a central supermassive black hole, surrounded by closely orbiting stars, is swallowing gas and dust.

ALMA headquarters. Santiago, Chile.

ALMA antennas and transporter. Site at 17,000 ft altitude, the highest observatory in the world and the largest astronomy project in human history. The building behind the antennas houses the world's most powerful supercomputer and is the second highest building in the world. Chajnantor, Chile.