It’s out of this world confusing.

A beautiful aerial image of the earth has proved astronomically confusing for some optical illusion aficionados — some spiraling into an existential crisis upon realizing what the space snap was actually showing.

The mind-bending picture changes completely when the image is flipped on the side.

But before the big reveal: According to the National Institute of Health, playful optical illusions such as this an important tool to teach us how our eyes and brain work together to see.

As we live in a three-dimensional world, the brain uses what it already knows about depth, shading, lighting, and position to help you interpret what you see.

However, that can change when looking at a two-dimensional image, NIH experts reported.

[Warning: Spoilers below]

While this serene, apparently interplanetary image looks like it was probably snapped from a satellite orbiting earth, online sleuths realized it wasn’t the cosmos — and in reality was something much more down to earth.

OK, keep scrolling for the big boom reveal.

Upon first glance, the curved light looks like the side of the earth surrounded by the stars in space. However, the “stars” are actually the lights of the city and the “light” of earth is the sunset.

Yes, the the image is a upended photograph of a slightly blurry city-space at night time.

Users were in disbelief over the trick their minds had played on them.

“Having the right perspective is everything,” one user wrote.

Another couldn’t see a cityscape nor space.

“It’s all abstract except for some cirrus clouds!” an exasperated Twitter user said.

Others thought it had some cinematic qualities.

“The Universal logo comes into view…” a user joked in reference to the legendary movie studio intro featuring a similar image.

“Sunrise or sunset in a city.. nice view either way,” another chimed in.

Optical illusions such as this are often just a chance briefly escape the stresses of modern life — but they also hold actual scientific value for medical professionals.

These brain teasers are credited with helping researchers shed light on the complex inner workings of the human mind and how it reacts to its surroundings.

Dr. Gustav Kuhn, a psychologist and human perception expert at Goldsmiths University in London, once declared that illusions are important to our overall understanding of the brain: “We typically take perception for granted, and rarely think about the hard work that underpins everyday tasks, such as seeing a cup of coffee in front of you.”