What was claimed
These images show a recently discovered new planet.
Our verdict
These are computer-generated images, not photographs of a planet.
These images show a recently discovered new planet.
These are computer-generated images, not photographs of a planet.
A number of people on social media have been sharing pictures of “a new planet” that they say NASA recently found. One person claims that it is a planet called TOI 1338 b.
Sadly, although real new planets are being found all the time, these pictures were artificially generated by software here on Earth. (By a student at the University of Nevada, in fact.) One of the images being shared was posted on the student’s website in January 2019, several months before TOI 1338 b was discovered.
There are some very beautiful close-up photographs of the planets in our solar system. Pictures of more distant “exoplanets” do not yet show so much detail. They generally look more like this photo of the star TYC 8998-760-1 (top left), with two giant planets beneath it.
Credit: ESO/Bohn et al.
You’ve probably seen a surge in misleading and unsubstantiated medical advice since the Covid-19 outbreak. If followed, it can put lives at serious risk. We need your help to protect us all from false and harmful information.
We’ve seen people claiming to be health professionals, family members, and even the government – offering dangerous tips like drinking warm water or gargling to prevent infection. Neither of these will work.
The longer claims like these go unchecked, the more they are repeated and believed. It can put people’s health at serious risk, when our services are already under pressure.
Today, you have the opportunity to help save lives. Good information about Covid-19 could be the difference between someone taking the right precautions to protect themselves and their families, or not. Could you help protect us all from false and harmful information today?
Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better.