Draft:List of pareidolia in astronomy, biology, and geology

Astronomy

 * Alligator (open star cluster NGC 1981, also known as the Crocodile)
 * Angelfish Nebula
 * Atoms for Peace Galaxy
 * Banana Nebula
 * Bear Paw Galaxy (also known as the Bear Claw Galaxy)
 * Blue Horsehead Nebula
 * Boogeyman Nebula (Lynds Dark Nebula 1622 in Orion)
 * Bow-Tie Nebula
 * Butterfly Galaxies (also known as the Siamese Twins)
 * Calabash Nebula (also known as the Rotten Egg Nebula)
 * California Nebula (also known as the Dragon Nebula)
 * Caterpillar Nebula (dark cloud Barnard 168 in Cygnus)
 * Cat's Eye Nebula
 * Cat's Paw Nebula (also known as the Bear Claw Nebula)
 * Celestial Snow Angel (emission nebula Sharpless-2-106 in Cygnus)
 * Cheerio Nebula (also known as the Ghostly Cheerio)
 * Cigar Galaxy (also known as the Dove Galaxy)
 * Coalsack Nebula
 * Coathanger (open star cluster Collinder 399 in Vulpecula, which looks like a coathanger)
 * Condor Galaxy
 * Cooling Tower (open star cluster Messier 29 in Cygnus)
 * Crab Nebula
 * Dark Doodad Nebula
 * Dark Horse Nebula (also known as the Great Dark Horse, Prancing Horse)
 * Defiant Finger, within the Carina Nebula
 * Dolphin-Head Nebula
 * Dragonfish Nebula
 * Dragons of Ara (two dark images or silhouettes of dragon-like creatures in the NGC 6188 complex, in the constellation Ara)
 * Dumbbell Nebula (also known as the Apple Core Nebula, Diabolo Nebula, Double Headed Shot)
 * Eagle Nebula (also known as the Star Queen Nebula)
 * Eskimo Nebula (also known as the Clown-Faced Nebula, Lion Nebula)
 * Fetus Nebula
 * Gabriela Mistral Nebula
 * Ghost Head Nebula
 * Ghost Nebula
 * Glowing Eye Nebula (also known as the Dandelion Puffball Nebula)
 * Guitar (nebula)
 * Halloween Cat (open star cluster NGC 225 in Cassiopeia)
 * Hamburger Galaxy
 * Hand of God (pulsar PSR B1509−58 in Circinus)
 * Headphone Nebula
 * Heart Nebula (also known as the Running Dog Nebula)
 * Homunculus Nebula (Little Man Nebula)
 * Horsehead Nebula
 * Iris Nebula
 * Jellyfish Nebula
 * Jesus Christ Nebula (also known as the Cone Nebula)
 * Jewel Bug Nebula (also known as the Gummy Bear Nebula)
 * Keyhole Nebula, within the Carina Nebula
 * Lemon Slice Nebula
 * Little Ghost Nebula
 * Lizard (dark cloud Barnard 138 in Aquila)
 * Lobster Nebula (also known as the War-and-Peace Nebula)
 * Meathook Galaxy (also known as the Cobra-and-Mouse)
 * Metronome (open star cluster Dolidze 17 in Orion)
 * Mice Galaxies
 * Monkey Head Nebula (also known as the Ape Man Nebula)
 * Muscle Man Cluster (open star cluster Stock 2 in Cassiopeia)
 * North America Nebula
 * Owl Cluster (also known as the Dragonfly Cluster, E.T. Cluster, Kachina Doll Cluster)
 * Owl Nebula
 * Oyster Nebula
 * Pacman Nebula
 * Parrot's Head Nebula (dark cloud Barnard 87 in Sagittarius)
 * Pelican Nebula
 * Pencil Nebula
 * Phantom Streak Nebula
 * Pincushion Cluster (also known as the Football Cluster, Black Arrow Cluster, Wishing Well Cluster, Double Arrowhead)
 * Pistol Nebula
 * Porpoise galaxy (also known as the Penguin-with-Egg Galaxy)
 * Prawn Nebula
 * Red Spider Nebula
 * Retina Nebula
 * Running Chicken Nebula
 * Running Man Nebula (NGC 1977 in Orion)
 * Sailboat (open star cluster Dolidze-Dzimselejsvili 7 in Hercules)
 * Seagull Nebula
 * Seahorse Nebula
 * Skull and Crossbones Nebula (also known as the Mandrill)
 * Skull Nebula
 * Sombrero Galaxy (also known as the Darklane Galaxy)
 * Sprinter (also known as the Running Man Cluster)
 * Starfish Galaxy
 * Statue of Liberty Nebula
 * Swan Nebula (also known as the Horseshoe Nebula, Lobster Nebula, Omega Nebula, Checkmark Nebula)
 * Tarantula Nebula
 * Thirty Seven Cluster, 37 Cluster (also known as the LE Cluster)
 * Thor's Helmet (also known as the Duck Nebula)
 * Toby Jug Nebula
 * Tribble Nebulae
 * Tulip Nebula
 * Whale Galaxy (also known as the Herring Galaxy)
 * Witch Head Nebula
 * Wizard Nebula

Sources of many of the above mentioned names:
 * Sky Catalogue 2000.0, Volume 2: Double Stars, Variable Stars, and Nonstellar Objects (Edited by Alan Hirshfeld and Roger W. Sinnott, 1985); pages xlv, xlvi, xlvii, xlviii, xlix, and l: GLOSSARY OF SELECTED ASTRONOMICAL NAMES.
 * Deep-Sky Name Index 2000.0 (Hugh C. Maddocks, Foxon-Maddocks Associates, 1991), a derivate of Sky Catalogue 2000.0, Volume 2.

Biology

 * Heikegani, a species of crab native to Japan with shells interpreted to be the face of angry samurai

Geology

 * Badlands Guardian, a geomorphological feature located near Medicine Hat in the southeast corner of Alberta, Canada.
 * Face Mountain (formerly Parsons Peak, Alaska)
 * Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint, a state park in Oregon named for a rock that resembles the face of a human looking towards the sky
 * Makapansgat pebble, a pebble with natural chipping and wear patterns that make it look like a crude rendition of a human face
 * Old Man of the Mountain, a series of five granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire, United States
 * Pedra da Gávea, a monolithic mountain with stylized human face in Tijuca Forest, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
 * Runamo, a cracked dolerite dike in Sweden
 * Sleeping Giant (Ontario)
 * Turtle Rock, Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, Mongolia

Category:Optical illusions