On one rotation to Fort Irwin/NTC, I remember cresting a hill in my HMMWV and seeing the Goldstone Radio Antenna across (what I thought was) a small open valley. I looked at my map and it was just shy of 10km from where I was.
I think the aridity has a lot to do with it. Italian Renaissance painters mastered a technique of atmospheric perspective they called sfumato. Where most people live (i.e. not deserts) humidity, pollen and other particulates in the air create a haze that our eyes and brains subconsciously read as distance. It's why in most places hills become bluer or grayer as they recede into the distance.
In the desert, there's virtually no humidity. There's an absolute minimum of pollen or grains floating in the air. When the wind is calm there's very little dust. The air is unusually clear for people not used to it, and visually it contributes to distant objects looking significantly closer than they are.
Little humidity for sure - the desert is especially amazing though just right after a rain. The humidity is still gone with the wind, but it’s knocked all the haze, dust, and smoke out of the air.
Star gazing is pretty amazing too. I’ve seen some nice views up north, though never anything like out in the high western desert.