The James Webb Space Telescope has been a massive leap forward for scientists exploring our universe, delivering breathtaking images of faraway stars, galaxies and nebulas, such as this image of our nearest stellar neighbour, Proxima Centauri.
…Except that this is, of course, not Proxima Centauri. While it’s certainly hot, the image above – tweeted as a prank by scientist Professor Etienne Klein of France’s Atomic Energy Commission to his 90,000 followers – is in fact a slice of delicious chorizo sausage, more commonly found in Spain than in space.
“According to contemporary cosmology, no object belonging to Spanish charcuterie exists anywhere but on Earth,” Professor Klein said as he admitted to the joke, saying it was partially meant to engage viewers’ critical thinking skills.
“Let us learn to be wary of arguments from authority as much as of the spontaneous eloquence of certain images.”
To make it up to his followers, Professor Klein later tweeted a very real (and beautiful) image from the telescope of the Cartwheel Galaxy, and while it is certainly more breathtaking, we have to admit – it doesn’t look nearly as tasty.
