The hottest desert on the planet

Today's Image of the Day from the European Space Agency features the Dasht-e Lut salt desert in southeastern Iran. The Lut Desert is often referred to as the hottest place on the planet. Satellites recorded extreme surface temperatures in the region over several different years.  The highest-ever land surface temperature was recorded in 2005 by NASA’s Aqua satellite in the Lut Desert at more than 70 degrees Celsius, or 199 degrees Fahrenheit. --- By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer Image Credit: ESA