What the Heck Is This?

If you've seen this in person, you probably know exactly what it is. If not, it could be a puzzler.

One hint: It's a close crop of a somewhat well-known landform. Another hint: The image was taken at sunrise.

Yeah, that's not much help. See the full image and description below …

The photo is of a rock formation called Thor's Hammer in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. The wild spires at Bryce are called "hoodoos," an they're rampant in what looks like a giant natural amphitheater. They over millions of years as ice and rainwater wore away the weak limestone in the mix of rock, leaving some improbable formations.

This iconic, balanced rock in Bryce Canyon is called Thor's Hammer. In Norse mythology, Thor is the god of thunder, and his hammer is a feared weapon that can wipe out mountains, or at least make a racket.

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Robert is an independent health and science journalist and writer based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is a former editor-in-chief of Live Science with over 20 years of experience as a reporter and editor. He has worked on websites such as Space.com and Tom's Guide, and is a contributor on Medium, covering how we age and how to optimize the mind and body through time. He has a journalism degree from Humboldt State University in California.