Lunar pareidolia

Lunar pareidolia refers to the pareidolic images seen by humans on the face of the Moon. The Moon's surface is a complex mixture of dark areas (the lunar maria, or "seas") and lighter areas (the highlands). Many cultures have seen shapes in these dark and light areas that have reminded them of people, animals or objects, often related to their folklore; the most famous are the Man in the Moon in Western folklore and the Moon Rabbit of Asia and the Americas. Other cultures perceive the silhouette of a woman, a frog, a moose, a buffalo, or a dragon (with its head and mouth to the right and body and wings to the left) in the full moon. Alternatively, the vague shape of the overall dark and light regions can resemble a Yin Yang symbol.

The Man in the Moon is an imaginary figure resembling a human face, head or body, that observers from some cultural backgrounds typically perceive in the bright disc of the full moon.

In Chinese culture, the rabbit in the moon (a companion of Chang'e) is pounding medicine. Similarly, in Japan and Korea, popular culture sees a rabbit making mochi and tteok, respectively, in the moon.

In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica the rabbit is often associated with the moon, for example, Tecciztecatl, the Aztec moon god, was pictured as an anthropomorphic rabbit; there is also a myth involving Quetzalcoatl and the moon rabbit.

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