THE FACE ON MARS AND OTHER SHAPES IN SPACE

Humans keep finding patterns among the stars, helping us locate and recognise astronomical wonders

- Nikole Robinson

Since the first ancient humans turned their gaze to the skies above, civilisations began familiarising themselves with the inky blackness of the night sky using the patterns they saw in it – much like a join-the-dots puzzle of the points of light we now know to be stars, nebulae and galaxies. These patterns resembled recognisable objects or animals within different cultures and were used to track the seasons and for navigation. Modern astronomy uses a very similar system, with 88 official constellations used to divide the sky into sections, many based on those used by past cultures and explorers.

Looking further into the cosmos with ever-improving telescope technology has shown that there are shapes and patterns to be found beyond the constellations as well, with wispy filaments of gas and dust, clusters of stars and even the surfaces of planets surprising us with something familiar so far from home.

MARTIAN MASK
25 July 1976