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The world is eagerly awaiting sharper images of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after Rosetta went into orbit around the comet last week.

But one image has already caused excitement among space enthusiasts after the outline of a human face was spotted on the edge of the icy comet.

The German Aerospace Centre's youth portal, DLR_next, spotted the optical illusion and pointed it out on Twitter last week. 

This image has caused excitement among space enthusiasts who believe they can see the outline of a human face on the edge of the comet. The German Aerospace Centre's youth portal, DLR_next, first spotted the face

Seeing faces in unusual and random objects is nothing new. The phenomenon is called Pareidolia is the psychological response to seeing faces and other significant and everyday items in random stimulus.

It is a form of apophenia, which is when people see patterns or connections in random, unconnected data.

Human eyes can spot faces within their environment and it helps them recognise friends in a crowd, work out how fast a car is travelling, and see patterns.

Click on the image below to view Rosetta's current position

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on 3 August from a distance of 285 km. The image resolution is 5.3 metres/pixel

Close up detail focusing on a smooth region on the 'base' of the 'body' section of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image was taken by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera and downloaded today

Scientists claim we also tend to use this ability to 'enrich our imagination' and recognise meaningful shapes, even when they're not there.

For instance, the Viking 1 Mars orbiter in 1976 sparked infamous claims of a 'Face on Mars.'

WHAT IS THE FACE ON MARS?

In 1976 Nasa sent two spacecraft called Viking 1 and Viking 2 to the Cydonia region of Mars.

Both spacecraft took images of the planet's surface and beamed them back to Nasa scientists on Earth.

One image, taken on 25 July 1976 by Viking 1, showed what appeared to be a face in the rocks.

This 'Face on Mars' image was taken about half-way between the Arandas Crater and Bamberg Crater in Cydonia.

When the image was seen by Viking chief scientist Gerry Soffen, he dismissed it as a 'trick of light and shadow'.

But another image taken at a different angle also appeared to show a face in the planet's surface, and was found by Vincent DiPietro and Gregory Molenaar, two computer engineers at Nasa.

This 'Face on Mars' image was taken about half-way between the Arandas Crater and Bamberg Crater in Cydonia.

When the image was seen by Viking chief scientist Gerry Soffen, he dismissed it as a 'trick of light and shadow'.

Rosetta is currently in orbit within 62 miles (100km) of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko which is travelling at 34,000 mph (55,000 km per hour).

Described as 'the sexiest, most fantastic mission ever', the probe will spend more than a year analysing the comet to help uncover the secrets to life on Earth.

As well as the 'alien face,' there are already a number of fascinating features shown on recent images by the probe.

'I was impressed that on the neck that connects the two parts of the comet there is something like the side of a mountain,' mission director, Paolo Ferri, told MailOnline.

'It's like looking at the Alps on a very high wall. It is incredible. It makes you feel like you want to climb it.

'And on one of the few areas that seem to be flat there are boulders 20 TO 30 metres wide, they look like houses.

'They are there in complete isolation. In the coming days we can say more about what these features are.'

Images of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko taken on July 14, 2014, by the Osiris imaging system aboard the Rosetta spacecraft have allowed scientists to create this three-dimensional shape model of the nucleus

Enlarge  

A timeline of Rosetta's journey to comet 67P. The probe was launched in March 2004 from Kourou in French Guinana. In January this year, after three years, Rosetta woke up from hibernation to chase down its comet

Images reveal close-up details of the comet, which scientists hope to better explain in the coming months. Comet's 'head' is at the left of the frame, which is casting shadow onto the 'neck' and 'body' to the right