Testing Perception

Perception has the tantalizing attribute of malleability. Without direct information from external sources, the endless barrage of outcomes makes just about anything possible. Even with an educated directive, there will always be some components left to chance - some room to wiggle. Within that small void, imagination has the space to fully blossom and therein reality is created.

In my mind, the above image is nothing short of magnificent. Such a broad view of the depths of space and time, as if seen through the very eye of Hubble, never fail to leave me breathless in bewilderment. Stars, galaxies, and cosmic dust painstakingly paint a landscape of pacifying complexity. In the distance, the graceful sound of David Bowie slowly begins to crescendo in my ears. Yet just as the weightlessness takes hold and I prepare to float into an infinite chasm of desolation, something is not quite right...

Can your skills of perception lead you to the truth? I will leave you with an unfinished quest: What do you perceive in the image above? Describe the circumstances that caused the scene in this photo, in either general or technical terms. Though there is a right answer, no answer is wrong. The only limit is your own mind.

Photo taken by the author.