SEEN FROM ELSEWHERE – The telescope amazes the world with its fantastic shots of space in sparkling colors. However, this research instrument does not perceive visible light. To what extent are these representations faithful to the reality of space?
By Norbert Lossau (The World)
In early August, French physicist and philosopher of science Etienne Klein tweeted an image of a round, fiery red object with white flares, against a perfectly black background, portraying it as a shot from the James Webb Space Telescope. He claimed that this ten billion euro research instrument had captured Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the sun, about four light-years distant from Earth. In reality, it was a photo of a simple slice of sausage, spicy chorizo from Spain to be more precise.
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Even scientists fell for their colleague and expressed their anger when journalists revealed to them the true nature of the object. Étienne Klein apologized, while highlighting his good intentions. Its purpose was to call for greater caution and skepticism about images. This example shows how easily…
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