A French scientist is apologizing after admitting that he shared a fake image of a star that was actually a piece of chorizo.
Étienne Klein, a physicist at France’s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission shared a photo on Twitter of what he said was the star Proxima Centauri.
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 claimed the image had been taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
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That device was launched into Earth’s orbit late last year, after construction that cost more than $10 billion, according to NPR.
The star is the closest star to Earth’s sun. But the reality behind the photo Klein shared isn’t light-years away from the human eye.
To the casual viewer, it looks like Klein could be sharing a photo of the star.
Is this irresponsible?
However, some of his followers questioned the veracity of a purported space photo that looked almost like a piece of pepperoni.
Klein raised some questions about his own tweet when he responded to the image with a reference to “Spanish charcuterie” existing only on Earth.
Bon, quand sonne l’heure de l’apéritif, les biais cognitifs semblent s’en donner à cœur joie… Gare, donc, à eux. Selon la cosmologie contemporaine, nul objet relevant de la charcuterie espagnole n’existe ailleurs que sur Terre.
— Etienne KLEIN (@EtienneKlein) July 31, 2022
Klein later clarified that the ground-breaking photo was nothing but a slice of chorizo.
The scientist finally issued an apology for the “hoax” on Wednesday, claiming he had staged the prank to prove a point about similar cases of fraud.
Je viens présenter mes excuses à ceux que mon canular, qui n’avait rien d’original, a pu choquer. Il voulait simplement inciter à la prudence vis-à-vis des images qui semblent éloquentes par elles-mêmes.
La blague d’un scientifique https://t.co/wHiJWxscxq #Astronomie via @LePoint— Etienne KLEIN (@EtienneKlein) August 3, 2022
Klein went on to distinguish between what he called a hoax and fake news in a subsequent tweet.
Pardon, Madame, mais un canular n’est pas une fake-news, puisqu’il finit toujours par se dénoncer lui-même. Ou alors, pour vous faire plaisir, je dirais que c’est une fake-news provisoire qui vise à dénoncer les fake-news durables.
— Etienne KLEIN (@EtienneKlein) August 5, 2022
The real Proxima Centauri is further away than anything you’ll find in a food truck.
It’s around 4.2 light years away from the sun, according to National Geographic — although that’s close enough to earn it the place of the sun’s closest neighbor.
