Snow and Sun atop Chajnantor

Despite sunny skies, snow dusts the terrain atop the Chajnantor Plateau in northern Chile during a rare wintry period in the Atacama Desert. A selection of Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) antennas can be seen dotting the Plateau's icy landscape.

At first glance, the convergence of snow along the sides of the roads resembles a cluster of penitentes (Spanish for “penitents”). Penitentes are thin spikes of hardened snow or ice, with sharp edges pointing towards the Sun. You can read more about penitentes in a previous Picture of the Week (potw1221).