Luna, Venus and Saturn formed a celestial face in the sky. It is an optical illusion, but the effect is … real: the shot was chosen by NASA as an astronomical photo of the day.
In recent days on social networks it was a rumor that in the sky it would have seen a great … smile: Moon and planets aligned in a perfect wayto draw a gigantic Smiling emoji above our heads. Many had let themselves be intrigued, someone even excited. But then to dismantle everyone came the experts, claiming that it was the usual viral hoax and that there would have been nothing to see. And instead …
But no. The sky really smiled!
To demonstrate it is a spectacular photograph taken by Daniel KoronadoMexican architect and astrophotographer, already known for its ability to transform the sky into visual poetry. The shot, made to Zacatecasin the center of Mexico, was chosen by Nasa as Astronomy Picture of the Day (Apod)confirming that it was not a hoax at all.
In the image you see one Mooncurved upwards like a smiling mouth, accompanied by Venus (top left) e Saturn (below, right). Together, these three celestial bodies designed a perfect face in the sky, visible from different parts of the world.
In reality the alignment is apparent
However, a fundamental aspect should be underlined: It is only apparent alignmentdue to the prospect terrestrial. The three stars are not found on the same level or at the same distance from us.
To give an idea of the real distances: the Moon it was about 380,000 km from the earth, Venus It was located beyond 100 million kmWhile Saturn it was beyond 1.5 billion km away. Yet, from here, they seemed very close and part of the same drawing.
It is us, who “looking for” faces everywhere …
This celestial game is also a perfect example of Pareidoliathe psychological phenomenon for which our brain recognizes family forms, such as faces or objects, in random patterns: the same mechanism that shows us animals in the clouds or a smiling face between the moon and two planets.
Everything was made possible by a rare geometric coincidence between the lunar phase and the apparent positions of the planets in the night sky. It doesn’t happen often, but when it happens … it’s a show.
If you love astronomical images that seem to get out of a visual fairy tale, follow Daniel Koronado on Facebook and on his Instagram profile @dako unicance.
