Outer space has always been a widely discussed topic among scientists and the general population. The James Webb Space Telescope has been releasing full-color images since July 2022, so many people showed their excitement on social media and are constantly waiting for the next image to be uploaded.
To their fascination, on July 31, French scientist Etienne Klein released a new picture from the telescope via Twitter. However, turns out that the viral “distant star” photo is nothing more but a piece of chorizo.
Photo de Proxima du Centaure, l’étoile la plus proche du Soleil, située à 4,2 année-lumière de nous.
Elle a été prise par le JWST.
Ce niveau de détails… Un nouveau monde se dévoile jour après jour. pic.twitter.com/88UBbHDQ7Z— Etienne KLEIN (@EtienneKlein) July 31, 2022
Klein decided to share a picture of pork sausage, claiming it was a photo from the JWST. The image received more than 21,000 retweets, with a great part of his followers believing him. A month later, on August 3, the research director of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission admitted that the picture was not from outer space but a simple piece of charcuterie.
[Read: Scientists With Nothing Better to Do Created a Bubble That Lasted 465 Days Before Popping]
As expected, a major part of his followers was upset, while others took it as a funny joke. Klein himself also labeled the picture as a “scientist’s joke,” and advised people to be more careful with the “facts” they choose to label as genuine on the web.
Once again, the internet community learns a big lesson: do not believe everything you see. Next time a similar image pops up online, make sure to investigate the source of it. You can visit the JWST website or the official Twitter account and find that the telescope never took the image.
Outer space is fascinating. So, if you are curious about how galaxies, stars, and planets may look, you can always visit the JWST website and find thousands of pictures of different objects.
A French scientist apologized to the general public after claiming that an image of a slice of chorizo was a picture taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
The original tweet accumulated several retweets in less than a week after the picture was shared on that social media platform.
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