Meteorite Museum, San Pedro de Atacama

A small museum in the driest desert on Earth, devoted to the meteorites found there.

Key facts

Where

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Kind

Museum

Visiting

Public galleries

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is one of the best places on Earth to find meteorites. It is extremely dry and very old, so meteorites rust slowly and build up on the surface over millions of years, and the density of meteorites on some of its plains is among the highest anywhere outside Antarctica.

The Meteorite Museum in the oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama is a small private museum, set up by meteorite hunters, that shows meteorites found in the desert and explains where they come from. The desert is also famous for pallasites such as Imilac and Vaca Muerta, found long ago by local people.

Highlights

• Atacama finds meteorites from the desert
• Imilac pallasite Pallasite, PMG

Related pages

Opening times, what is on display and access to research collections change over time, so check with the institution before you visit.