Sometimes, you come across an image so surreal that it feels like someone took a creative liberty with Photoshop. This is one of those moments. NASA’s ICE team, which conducts polar research, shared an extraordinary photo on Twitter that sparked disbelief and fascination online. The image shows a remarkably rectangular iceberg, almost too geometrically perfect to be real.

This stunning photo was captured by NASA’s Operation IceBridge, an ambitious airborne mission that uses research aircraft to monitor changes in Earth’s polar ice. The image highlights not just the beauty of these frozen landscapes but also the power of scientific observation to surprise us with scenes that challenge our understanding of nature.

The unusual iceberg was spotted near the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica — the same region where a massive chunk of ice famously broke away in July 2017. Most of us are used to seeing icebergs shaped like jagged mountains or irregular blocks, but this one stood out for its sharp angles and nearly flawless rectangular form.

Known as a tabular iceberg, this formation is characterized by its flat top and steep, vertical sides. While tabular icebergs are relatively common, especially in Antarctica, their shapes are rarely this symmetrical. Speaking to Live Science, NASA ice scientist Kelly Brunt from the University of Maryland described the iceberg as “a bit unusual,” estimating it to be about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) across. While the surface appears perfectly flat, there’s likely a far more complex structure hidden below the waterline, as roughly 90% of an iceberg’s mass lies beneath the surface.

NASA’s tweet from October 17, 2018, describes the scene:

“From yesterday's #IceBridge flight: A tabular iceberg can be seen on the right, floating among sea ice just off of the Larsen C ice shelf. The iceberg's sharp angles and flat surface indicate that it probably recently calved from the ice shelf.”

This image isn't just aesthetically fascinating—it’s scientifically significant. The crisp, clean edges of the iceberg suggest that it calved quite recently from the ice shelf. Over time, wind and waves will gradually erode these sharp lines, transforming the iceberg into a more irregular shape. But in its current state, it's a pristine example of how natural processes can sometimes mimic artificial precision.

Interestingly, this isn't the first time scientists have documented massive tabular icebergs. The largest on record, B-15, measured a staggering 295 kilometers (183 miles) long and 37 kilometers (23 miles) wide. It broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000 and was visible from satellites for years as it slowly drifted and disintegrated.

Just last month, another significant calving event was caught on camera in eastern Greenland, where researchers filmed the dramatic moment a large iceberg broke away from a glacier. That iceberg, too, was a tabular one — broad and flat — and it was accompanied by several smaller, narrower formations called pinnacle icebergs. These events, while captivating, serve a deeper purpose: helping scientists track the accelerating impact of climate change on our planet’s cryosphere.

Icebergs like this one don’t just make for great viral photos — they are data points in a much larger story. They tell us about the health of polar regions, the stability of ice shelves, and the warming trends that are reshaping Earth’s most remote frontiers. Through high-resolution imagery and scientific analysis, NASA and other agencies can monitor these shifts with increasing accuracy.

So, the next time you see a strangely rectangular iceberg floating through your newsfeed, don’t dismiss it as a digital fake. Nature, as it turns out, is more than capable of producing shapes that would make even a graphic designer do a double take.