The cosmos is filled with enigmas waiting to be deciphered. Ambitious space endeavors, like the **James Webb Space Telescope** and **Martian rovers**, are assisting scientists in probing the universe and tackling some of the most significant inquiries: Is there a possibility that any of the rocky, Earth-sized planets within the **TRAPPIST solar system** could support life? What led to the formation of galaxies, including our **Milky Way**, brimming with stars and planets? Did the blazing planet **Venus** ever possess oceans?
Some of these cosmic enigmas might be unraveled in the years or decades to come, while others could take considerably longer. Yet, as these spacecraft relay data back to us, we sometimes interpret the visuals in ways that feel familiar—like perceiving a face in a rock formation or a hand in a cosmic cloud. This phenomenon, where we detect recognizable patterns in unrelated objects, is referred to as **pareidolia**.
“At NASA, we frequently receive comments from individuals who claim to see something familiar in an image from Mars, or another celestial body, or elsewhere in the universe. And they do see something familiar, but it’s truly because they are experiencing pareidolia,” NASA states.
### Skulls in Space?
Here are some instances where shapes resembling skulls have emerged in space imagery. Naturally, there aren’t gigantic skulls drifting through the cosmos—or are there?
#### **The Perseus Cluster**
This haunting image was captured by NASA’s **Chandra X-ray Observatory**, which identifies X-ray emissions from heated regions in the universe. The skull-like formation illustrates the core of a cluster of distant galaxies known as the **Perseus cluster**. The image showcases extremely hot gas enveloping the supergiant galaxy **Perseus A**, which has a supermassive black hole at its center. The dark cavities depicted in the image, spacious enough to accommodate galaxies half the size of the Milky Way, were likely formed by explosions of energized particles from the black hole. The “mouth” of the skull is a smaller galaxy being drawn into Perseus A.
#### **The Skull Asteroid (aka the “Halloween Asteroid”)**
In 2015, astronomers identified **Asteroid 2015 TB145**, which strikingly resembles a skull. Compounding its eerie aspect, the asteroid made its closest approach to Earth on Halloween of that year. Ranging between 2,050 and 2,300 feet in diameter, the asteroid is notably dark, reflecting only about 5% of sunlight. Astronomers describe it as “somewhat more reflective than charcoal.” NASA classifies it as a “dead comet,” indicating it has lost much of its water ice and other volatile compounds. The asteroid is set to make another close pass to Earth in 2088, coming within 20 lunar distances (the span between the Earth and the Moon).
#### **Skull Nebula**
Situated about 1,600 light-years from Earth, the **Skull Nebula** (officially known as **NGC 246**) is a planetary nebula generated from the outgassed layers of a dying star. As the star sheds its outer layers, a dense core (a white dwarf) remains at its center. The nebula is located in the constellation **Cetus**, commonly referred to as “The Whale.” The European Southern Observatory describes it as “an ethereal remnant of a long-dead star, resembling a skull floating through space.”
#### **One-Eyed Space Skull?**
Nebulae, similar to clouds, can adopt an array of shapes, and in the instance of **NGC 5189**, some perceive a “grinning one-eyed skull.” This nebula formed when a star comparable in size to the Sun expelled its outer layers towards the end of its life cycle. Astronomers suspect this system may have contained two stars, rendering it a binary system.
#### **Face on Mars**
One of the most renowned examples of pareidolia is the “face on **Mars**.” In 1976, NASA’s **Viking spacecraft** captured an image of a Martian landform that resembled a face. However, subsequent missions with higher-resolution cameras demonstrated that the “face” was merely a natural Martian landscape.
### Pareidolia in the Cosmos
Occurrences of pareidolia can be observed throughout the universe. Although it may not consistently reflect reality, it can ignite curiosity and bring attention to intriguing cosmic phenomena. At times, however, the likeness can be rather unsettling.
This story has been revised.