A photo from space in 2023 reveals the baleful gaze of the Trou au Natron caldera, situated in Chad’s Tibesti Massif. (Image credit: NASA/ISS program)QUICK FACTS
Where is it located? Trou au Natron, Tibesti Massif, Chad [20.96825691, 16.571382232]
What can be seen in the shot? A cranium-shaped formation inside a volcanic crater seems to peer towards outer space
Who was the photographer? An anonymous astronaut stationed on the International Space Station (ISS)
When was the image captured? Feb. 12, 2023
This spectral astronaut image displays an eerie formation resembling a skull, glaring skyward from the base of a massive volcanic depression within the Sahara Desert.
The skull-like configuration is found at the bottom of Trou au Natron, also known as Doon Orei — a volcanic caldera, or bowl-shaped cavity, spanning 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) in northern Chad. (Trou au Natron is French for “natron hole,” while Doon Orei signifies “big hole” in the Teda language.)
The volcanic hollow was formed by a significant eruption hundreds of millennia ago and is positioned in the center of the Tibesti Massif, a 300-mile-long (480 kilometers) chain of mountains traversing the Sahara desert across Chad and Libya, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.
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The caldera’s floor presents an unmistakable skull-like vision when observed from space. However, it bears an almost unrecognizable appearance when viewed from ground level (see below).
The skull acquires a more distorted visage when seen from the caldera’s edge.
The snowy hue of the skull’s mouth, nose and cheeks is due to natron, a naturally occurring combination of sodium carbonate decahydrate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride, and sodium sulfate. This saline amalgamation is notably flaky, resembling fractured paint upon closer inspection.
The regions designating the eyes and nose hole are, in reality, cinder cones — sharply inclined conical hills composed around volcanic openings that loom above the rest of the caldera terrain. The darker section on the face’s left is the shadow projected by the crater’s elevated edge, which aids in establishing the skull’s distinctive form.
From a terrestrial perspective, the skull shape vanishes entirely. Instead, towering cinder cones are all that’s visible, ascending over a landscape of scaly natron.
Currently, Trou au Natron is infertile and devoid of life; however, specialists propose that it formerly thrived as a glacial lake. During the 1960s, scientists unearthed marine snail and plankton fossils under the pit’s natron-encrusted surface, carbon-dating them back approximately 14,000 years. In 2015, a subsequent mission discovered algal fossils that stretch back as far as 120,000 years.
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Since shortly after its creation, the caldera has remained volcanically inactive. However, it lies close to Tarso Toussidé, an expansive volcanic structure blanketed by a field of solidified lava (just above the satellite image’s top). Tarso Toussidé features a stratovolcano that is still regarded as volcanically dynamic, despite having been dormant for over 12,000 years, as reported by the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program.
Trou au Natron is not the sole volcanic formation that, from a spaceborne vantage point, exhibits a cranial likeness: Nicaragua’s Chiltepe Peninsula in Lake Managua is home to a volcanic lake duo, each nestled within its own caldera, thus affording the landmass a strikingly comparable semblance to the Chadian caldera.
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Harry BakerSocial Links NavigationSenior Staff Writer
Harry, based in the U.K., holds the position of senior staff writer at Live Science. He pursued marine biology studies at the University of Exeter ahead of training to become a journalist. His coverage spans a broad spectrum of subjects, including space exploration, planetary science, space weather, climate change, animal behavior, and paleontology. His recent contributions on the solar maximum earned the “best space submission” award at the 2024 Aerospace Media Awards and were nominated in the “top scoop” category for the 2023 NCTJ Awards for Excellence. He also authors Live Science’s Earth from space weekly segment.
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