FACT CHECK: X Image Purporting To Show 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Is AI-Generated

Christine Sellers | Fact Check Reporter

An image shared on X, formerly Twitter, purports to show the total solar eclipse that occurred on Apr. 8.

Verdict: False

The claim is false. A media forensics and AI expert denied the image’s authenticity in an email to Check Your Fact.

Fact Check:

The X image, which has garnered over 500 views as of writing, purports to show the total solar eclipse that occurred on April 8, 2024. “Probably the best photo of [the] total solar eclipse 2024,” the image’s caption reads. The image appears to show the moment the moon blocks out the sun during totality.

The image is not authentic, however. A content detection scan using the website, “Hive Moderation” reveals the image has been generated with AI. The results of the same scan reveal the image is 98% likely to have been generated with AI.

Screenshot captured via Hive Moderation

Likewise, Check Your Fact did not find the X image referenced in any credible news reports about the recent total solar eclipse. In fact, the opposite is true. India Today also reported the image is AI-generated via an April 16 article. Besides X, the image also circulated on Facebook, according to the outlet. The Facebook post now appears to have been deleted. (RELATED: Image Shows Art, Not Recent Solar Eclipse From Space)

Additionally, the image neither appears on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) website nor its verified social media accounts. Authentic photos of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse are available to view via the NASA Space Station blog and the NASA Johnson Space Center’s official Flickr account.

Dr. Walter Scheirer, a media forensics and AI expert at the University of Notre Dame, denied the image’s authenticity in an email to Check Your Fact.

“This image is either AI-generated or has been edited in a significant way. No natural phenomenon would cause the visual effect that can be seen around the sun and the moon. That said, this is a fairly innocuous example of a fake image and is a good example of the creative use of computer vision technology,” Scheirer said.

This is not the first time false information about the 2024 total solar eclipse has circulated online. Check Your Fact previously debunked a Facebook video purporting to show a crowd of beachgoers watching the recent eclipse.

Christine Sellers

Fact Check Reporter

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