NASA has weighed in on the dramatic, sky-pointing rocks at Vasquez Rocks Natural Area in Southern California, confirming what Star Trek fans have known for decades: those jagged outcrops are absolutely perfect for filming alien planets.

The rocks, which jut from the arid Soledad Basin at an average tilt of 50 degrees, have starred in the Star Trek franchise since its first season, when Captain Kirk fought a reptilian alien on their slopes. They've also popped up in Westworld, For All Mankind, and Battlestar Galactica - because nothing says 'distant moon' like a rock formation that looks like it's trying to escape Earth.

From space, though, the Vasquez Rocks are a bit less dramatic - just gray bands between mountains. Landsat 9's OLI (Operational Land Imager) captured them in both false-color (bands 6-5-4) and natural-color images, with the false-color view using shortwave-infrared and near-infrared to highlight vegetation differences. Because even rocks need a good Instagram filter.

The rocks didn't always point skyward. About 25 million years ago, they were sediment spread across alluvial fans - cone-shaped deposits formed when fast streams hit flat plains. The sediment eroded from nearby uplands and was buried, cemented into sandstone and conglomerate. Then the San Andreas Fault - where the North American plate slides southeast and the Pacific plate northwest - got involved, uplifting and deforming the basin over millions of years. The sedimentary layers tilted, folded, and rotated, and erosion sculpted them into the fins and ridges that wow visitors today.

So next time you watch Spock's home planet, remember: it's not just a cool rock formation - it's a monument to plate tectonics and a favorite of geologists and sci-fi producers alike.