SANTIAGO – Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the darkest spots on earth, a crown jewel for astronomers who flock from around the world to study the origins of the universe in this inhospitable desert along the Pacific coast.

A rare confluence of factors makes the Atacama an ideal home for some of the world’s biggest ground-based astronomical projects — dry climate , high altitude and, crucially, isolation from the light pollution of civilization.

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“It's a perfect cocktail for astronomy,” said Daniela González, executive director of the Skies of Chile Foundation, a nonprofit that defends the quality of the country’s night skies.

But that may not be the case for much longer, a group of leading scientists warned in an open letter to Chile’s government released Tu

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