French scientist Etienne Klein has apologized on Twitter for a hoax that passed off a slice of chorizo as a snapshot of the star Proxima Centauri, a gesture that was meant
to 'encourage caution
' about the images circulating on social networks.
“
I come to present my apologies to those whom my hoax, which had nothing original, could shock.
He simply wanted to encourage caution with images that seem eloquent by themselves
, ”tweeted Wednesday August 3 Étienne Klein, physicist and philosopher of science.
On Sunday, the French scientist posted a photo of a slice of chorizo on a black background, claiming it was an image of the closest star to the Sun, taken with the brand new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
“
Photo of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, located 4.2 light years from us.
She was taken by the JWST.
This level of detail... A new world is revealed day after day
, ”commented Étienne Klein above the photo on a tweet.
Read alsoThe James Webb Telescope reveals a spectacular image of the Cartwheel galaxy
Director of research at the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Étienne Klein, 64, is also the producer of the radio program “
Science en questions
” on France Culture.
His publication, revealed by the online media HuffPost, has been widely shared on social networks in recent hours.
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