Space probe Rosetta finds ‘face’ in Comet 67

AFTER 10 years, the Rosetta space probe just came within touching distance of Comet 67. But an eerie photo has led to a haunting discovery.

IS our Solar System haunted? A face found by the Rosetta space probe and an eerie apparition emerging from the Sun has us wondering.

After a 10-year-long chase through the depths of space, the Rosetta space probe last night made a complex series of delicate manoeuvres to bring it to within touching distance of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (C-G).

Mysterious face or rocky feature? This incredibly detailed close-up of Comet 67P/C-G appears to show a human face. The Rosetta Space probe is mapping its surface to find a place to land a science experiment package. Picture: ESA

It was looking for a smooth patch on the roughly rubber-duck shaped celestial body to land a fridge-sized experimental pod later this year.

MANY FACES OF MERCURY: Have cities and faces been found on the innermost planet?

It found a face.

With somewhat anguished features.

Eine erste - natürlich streng wissenschaftliche - Bildanalyse hat gleich eine Reihe interessanter Features ergeben. pic.twitter.com/jDw8IDcqaf

— DLR_next (@DLR_next) August 6, 2014

First commented on by German Aerospace, the concept has since caught on.

What appears to be a face in the comet is actually just an optical illusion but it didn’t stop the space watchers from taking to Twitter.

The “face” of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is now doing the rounds of social media.

SECRET MOONBASE? Has Google revealed a lunar scandal?

It joins another ghostly apparition found earlier this week.

This time it was on the Sun.

What's our new header pic? A solar prominence appearing above the Sun July 28-29 http://t.co/wKmEm2Oy2j pic.twitter.com/ngtsbXNQlu

— NASA (@NASA) August 6, 2014

The spritely prominence (actually meaning a thin solar flare — nothing spiritual) was brought to the world’s attention by NASA’s Heliophysics unit.

In their tweet of the Sun’s surface is the spooky outline of an angry ghost.

An animated series of images released by the Solar Dynamics Observatory did little to lift the veil of pareidolia — the tendency of the human eye to find familiar forms among random patterns.

Cutting edge science, signs of an impending apocalypse — or just plain fun?