Fun Facts with Angus Burns: The Rosette Nebula

Why do humans see a man on the moon, celestial shapes in the starry constellations and different creatures in the clouds?

It’s a phenomenon known as pareidolia whereby our brains interpret information we receive via our sensory organs (such as the eyes) and create patterns from them.

This results in personally meaningful images being created from completely random patterns.

Interestingly, the ability to create patterns from randomness is an adaptation advantage too for humans – it enables us to “connect the dots,” so to speak and in some cases allows us to have an advantage over other competing species.

An example would be noticing a greener area in a dry landscape and then making the mental link to a possible water source which could actually enable us to survive longer in such a harsh environment.

The photo included for this fun fact is an image captured of the celestial object known as the Rosette Nebula which when viewed from a certain angle (as captured here), resembles a giant skull.  Not everyone can see the skull but many can.

There obviously isn’t a huge skull floating in space but it’s a good example of pareidolia in action.

The Rosette nebula is a massive collection of hydrogen and other gases that glow a red colour from the radiation of nearby stars.

It is located about 5219 light years away from us and is an easy object to photograph with a telescope and the right camera.

Next time you look up at the night sky, make a count of the number of familiar looking shapes your brain tricks you into seeing and enjoy the fun (and sometimes useful) phenomenon called pareidolia.

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