by Demand:
A real photo captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) shows the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse.
Rating:
Context:
The photo is real, but it wasn’t taken by JWST, and it wasn’t taken in 2024.
Perhaps the best part about a total solar eclipse, other than seeing it for yourself in real time, is viewing some of the amazing photos of it circulating on social media.
After the eclipse that came across North America on April 8, 2024, posts on X (formerly Twitter) went viral, claiming that NASA’s own James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) had the best pic.
(X user @avenaim)
Snopes investigated the origin of the photo at the request of readers. We are pleased to confirm that the photo itself is genuine. However, it was not captured by NASA’s JWST and was not taken during the April 8, 2024, eclipse. Here’s what we found out:
First, we investigated social media profiles from NASA and JWST – we thought the scientists and astronomers who took the photo would be proud to capture the telescope and post about it.
Count us out! Webb’s infrared optics detect extremely weak heat signals, and the Earth, Moon and Sun are far too bright and hot for us to see their way. That’s why we have sunshade: https://t.co/tTGIWqFAz8 https://t.co/wRTZNO4i6u
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) April 3, 2024
Instead, we found posts from the official JWST X account explaining that the Webb telescope cannot look at the sun, as it was designed to detect and see much weaker signals. JWST was designed with a solar shield specifically to prevent sunlight from interfering with the instruments. This means that Webb could never have taken the photo.
Next, we ran the photo through reverse image search engines like TinEye and Google Lens, which gave us mixed results. While TinEye found no matches, Google Lens came up with several, and we noticed many of them were posted before the April 8 eclipse. So, in addition to not being from JWST, the photo is not a North American 2024 eclipse photo.
It actually shows a solar eclipse in North America – just the one that happened on August 21, 2017. Several of the links provided by a Google Lens search credited the image to Dr. Sebastian Voltmer, filmmaker and astrophotographer.
By looking at Voltmer’s social media, we immediately confirmed that he took the original photo, with the best version of the photo coming from his Flickr page. According to the details provided in the Flickr caption, Voltmer captured the image through a telescope in Wyoming using a photography technique called HDR, which combines several different images taken at different exposure lengths to capture details in images with contrast high light/dark.
When Voltmer posted the photo to the social mediarotated it 90 degrees to fit a vertical aspect ratio.
Total Solar Eclipse HDR image, captured with my D800 through a C80 ED refractory telescope.
Even with the naked eye, I was able to see the earthshineas I looked at the star Regulus (peripheral vision).Images: @SeVoSpace
On April 8, the spectacular total solar eclipse will pass across the north… pic.twitter.com/DJYz8UjWPs
— Dr. Sebastian Voltmer (@SeVoSpace) April 6, 2024
When it was reposted after the 2024 eclipse with the false claim that it was taken by JWST, the vertical version of the photo was mirrored and probably filtered, which may be why reverse lookup sites had difficulty axis like TinEye to detect it.
So, no, the photo in question was not taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. However, don’t think of it as a discredit to JWST’s limitations – instead, think of it more as a credit to the telescope, which has changed our perception of astronomical imaging since its launch, and to astrophotographers like Voltmer, who he managed to take an amazing photo from the surface of the Earth.
Sources:
“ABOUT.” Website by Dr. Sebastian Voltmer14 July 2011, https://voltmer.de/about/.
Google Lens. https://lens.google.com/search?ep=gsbubb&hl=en&re=df&p=AbrfA8pDj-eLtdBoFywOYPGl4J91aRHmjGVQqI3LFDW_ZIupy_e5ttLrKsKYze_-AezMBfFTUwqRZ8hQL8MLr cunVp2hz7JWn_ow7639FpB_UleoKfrwOVO4TSK08XvB9ZDzBE hF0E1JNExWlkJlqtuj5KKaOKtZy3tcDFgqCnkfcbKGJeMvq0NkMrcW1MvvG4XLQfKMrcW1MvvApB5XL7KfKMc 31nPzVtZSpU69GJmHumMJmqKur3q0_r0Lz4g%3D%3D#lns=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVs bCxudWxsLDEsIkVrY0tFZMVVQT5W1 0daakxUWTNORekzTlRGaE9ESTJNUklmT0hsa1FrMDBOSFJZVDNkaGEwaDRiRiR3BST0hJemVEbEpSMWc0TnpkQ1p3PT0iLG51bGwsbnVzIbW251bGwsbn VsbWXLXWiXCWiXWiXWiXWiXWiXWiXWiXWiX TUtNDJiMy04YjdiLTliZTI3MjIyMTEzMyJdXSxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxbbnVsbCxudWxsLFtdXV0=. Accessed 9 April 2024.
“Https://Twitter.Com/Avenaim/Status/1777442521209282862/Photo/1.” X (formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/avenaim/status/1777442521209282862/photo/1 . Accessed 9 April 2024.
“https://Twitter.Com/NASAWebb/Status/1775629331357642755.” X (formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1775629331357642755. Accessed 9 April 2024.
“https://Twitter.Com/SeVoSpace/Status/1776736821617319995.” X (formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/SeVoSpace/status/1776736821617319995 . Accessed 9 April 2024.
Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C5b41osy-C2/?hl=en. Accessed 9 April 2024.
The Sunshield Webb/NASA. https://webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/sunshield.html. Accessed 9 April 2024.
TinEye Reverse Image Search. https://tinye.com/search/ea998d3f04d504ce8c8ace8ca9be5800e321d6e0?sort=score&order=desc&page=1. Accessed 9 April 2024.
Voltmer, Sebastian. World Crown 2017. photo, 6 September 2017. Flickrhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/spacemovie/36659081780/.
