A French scientist who tweeted a photo of a slice of chorizo ​​and claimed it was an image of a distant star acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope has apologized. The image of the spicy Spanish sausage was shared by prominent French physicist Etienne Klein on Twitter on July 31, claiming it was the latest image taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Mr. Klein is a director at France’s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. Photo of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, located 4.2 light years from us. Taken by JWST. This level of detail… A new world is unfolding day by day. pic.twitter.com/88UBbHDQ7Z — Etienne KLEIN (@EtienneKlein) July 31, 2022 While sharing the image, he wrote, “Photo of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, located 4.2 light years from us. Taken by JWST. This level of detail… A new world is being revealed every day. “ The image that went viral on social media looked like a fiery red ball with light-colored spots glowing eerily against a pitch-black background. Mr Klien has more than 93,000 followers. The post received more than 15,000 likes and over 2,000 retweets. Some Twitter users did not fall for the scientist’s joke and flooded the comments section with observations. “Stop lying to us! It’s a piece of chorizo! I love the plot… Suuuuper,” wrote one user. Another said, “Flat Earthers will develop a new theory. Stars are actually chorizo.” Mr. Klien later admitted that the image is indeed that of a sausage. “Well, when it’s aperitif time, cognitive biases seem to have a field day…Beware, then, of them. According to modern cosmology, no item belonging to Spanish charcuterie exists anywhere but on Earth .” “In light of some comments, I feel compelled to clarify that this tweet showing an alleged snapshot of Proxima Centauri was a form of entertainment. Let’s learn to be wary of arguments from authority as well as the spontaneous eloquence of some images.” he added. Later on Thursday, the scientist took to Twitter to write an apology. “I come to apologize to those whom my prank, which had nothing original in it, may have shocked.”