A French scientist has apologized after tweeting a photo of a slice of chorizo, claiming it was an image of a star taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
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Étienne Klein, a celebrated physicist and director of the French Commission for Alternative Energy and Atomic Energy, shared the photo of the spicy Spanish sausage on Twitter last week, praising the “level of detail” it offered.
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Photo of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, located 4.2 light-years away. It was taken by the James Webb space telescope. This level and so much detail… A new world is revealed every day,” he told his more than 91,000 followers on Sunday.
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Etienne KLEIN
@EtienneKlein
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The post was retweeted and commented on by thousands of users, who took the scientist at his word. Still, some followers questioned. Klein later admitted in a series of follow-up tweets that the image was in fact a close-up of a slice of chorizo against a black background. “According to contemporary cosmology, there is no object related to Spanish cured meats anywhere else in the universe.”
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After being called back by members of the online community for the joke, he wrote: “Given certain comments, I feel compelled to specify that this tweet featuring an alleged photo of Proxima Centauri was a joke. Let us learn to be wary of the messages of authoritative figures and of the spontaneous power of certain images.”
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On Wednesday, Klein officially apologized for the joke and, in an effort to make amends, posted an image of the spectacular Cartwheel galaxy, assuring followers that the photo was real this time.
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The Webb telescope, the most powerful telescope ever launched into space, officially began its scientific work on July 12. He will be able to see into the atmospheres of exoplanets and see some of the first galaxies that formed after the beginning of the universe by viewing them with infrared light.
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