River of Stars, River of Sand

This beautiful photograph, taken by ESO Photo AmbassadorPetr Horálek, shows a wonderful contrast between past and present. It was taken near ESO's Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile, one of the driest places on Earth. The waterless riverbed in the foreground stands completely at odds with the dynamic and breathtaking “river” of the Milky Way streaking overhead. Although one flow has dried up, the other continues to surge with cosmological revelations. Upon the arid, dry planes of the Atacama, ESO has designed and built the world’s most productive observatory.