Hubble Finds Smiley Face - A galactic image of what appears to be a smiling face in space has got many people around the world excited and smiling in return.
The image, which was caught by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, seems to show a cluster of galaxies smiling. The image was reportedly found by Judy Schmidt, a volunteer who was poring through an archive of images taken by the telescope. She has since entered it into the Hubble Hidden Treasures competition.
While many of us may be quick to think that a celestial being is actually cracking a grin at us, experts say this may not be the case. Apparently, the smiley face found by the Hubble telescope was created by gravity and precise timing.
According to a press release by experts at the Hubble Space Telescope organization, the smile and the lines that form the outline of the face of the smiling figure in space was caused by the gravitational force of the cluster of galaxies in the area. The two bright orange-colored eyes of the stellar smiley face are actually distant galaxies.
Experts say a cluster of galaxies can generate enough gravitational force to distort time and space around it and ultimately distort the appearance of light.
Even though you may swear that you see a smiley face in the picture taken by Hubble, experts say this is not the case and these thoughts only point at the deeply rooted nature of pareidolia in the human psychology.
Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon whereby people interpret things that appear seemingly vague or random with a lot of significance. One classic example of pareidolia is the alleged face on the moon. Experts say the human mind is hard wired to easily recognize faces.
