Solar Eclipse 2015: International Space Station Photo Was Fake

The solar eclipse was a disappointing event for many in the UK, with cloudy skies blocking the view, but an image of the moon passing in front of the sun taken from the International Space Station bolstered spirits when it proved to be a big hit on Twitter. Sadly, the photo turned out to be fake.

The image was first tweeted by teacher Jason Elsom with the caption "Solar Eclipse at the International Space Station", before being retweeted more than 15,000 times.

While Elsom didn't actually say that the image was taken by astronauts rather than a piece of art, he later apologised for any confusion with the hashtag '#sorry' and gave a nod to the original artist, A4size who posted the picture on DeviantArt.

[ NASA confirms ocean on Jupiter moon, raising prospects for life ]

[ Amazon Wins Approval To Test Delivery Drones ]

He has since deleted the orginal tweet, along with the apology.

The original tweet was taken at face value by thousands of Twitter users along with several news outlets, with New Scientist subsequently issuing an apology on Twitter.

Italian European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoferetti has since posted a series of genuine images of the eclipse, taken from the ISS.

The series of images were taken from the ISS using a Nikon D4 professional camera modified for space travel and include images of the eclipse taking place at sunrise.