{"id":17523,"date":"2026-03-03T11:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T11:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/?p=17523"},"modified":"2026-03-03T11:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T11:24:16","slug":"nasa-cosmic-crack-fact-check-ai-generated-image","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/nasa-cosmic-crack-fact-check-ai-generated-image\/","title":{"rendered":"Viral “Cosmic Crack” Image Is AI-Generated, Not Real NASA Discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A claim circulating on social media states that astronomers have detected a mysterious \u201ccosmic crack\u201d in the Milky Way. According to viral posts, an unseen force moved through part of the galaxy without emitting light, heat, or any visible signal, leaving behind a 230-light-year \u201cfracture.\u201d However, the viral image depicting a dark rip in space is not an authentic NASA or Chandra image. It is an unrelated AI-generated artwork being used misleadingly. Therefore, the scientific finding is real, but the viral visual representation and framing as a mysterious \u201ccosmic crack\u201d are misleading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Media Posts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posts circulating online claim that “Astronomers are investigating signs of what some describe as a ‘cosmic crack’, an unseen force that appears to have moved through part of the Milky Way without emitting light, heat, or any visible signal.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image and claim are spreading widely on Facebook, Instagram, and X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source<\/a> | Archive<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source<\/a> | Archive<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fact Check<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visual Analysis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We analyzed the viral image using Hive Moderation<\/a>, an AI detection tool. The results indicated a high likelihood that the image was generated using artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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A check using Gemini<\/a> also indicated that this image was generated or edited with Google AI, and the image contains a digital watermark, known as SynthID, which is used to identify content created by Google’s AI tools. The image depicts a space-like scene, and the central “crack” effect and specific star patterns are consistent with AI-generated imagery rather than a direct photograph of the night sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What NASA Actually Reported<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory published findings in 2025 (see here<\/a>) describing a fracture in a long, thin structure near the center of the Milky Way. The filament, designated G359.13 and nicknamed “the Snake,” stretches approximately 230 light-years and is located about 26,000 light-years from Earth near the Galactic Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to NASA’s official release, titled “NASA’s Chandra Diagnoses Cause of Fracture in Galactic ‘Bone'” (2025), the feature is not a crack in space itself, but a distortion in a radio-bright filament traced by magnetic fields and high-energy particles. NASA explains that the fracture was likely caused by a fast-moving pulsar, a highly magnetized neutron star, which slammed into the filament and warped its magnetic structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Space.com<\/a> similarly reported that Chandra data, combined with radio observations, revealed a kink or break in the filament consistent with a pulsar impact, not an unknown invisible force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Official NASA and Chandra materials consistently refer to the feature as a “fracture” or “kink” in a galactic filament. No official source uses the phrase “cosmic crack.” The term “cosmic bone” refers metaphorically to the filament’s elongated shape and does not imply a literal structural break in the fabric of space. No official scientific publication describes this phenomenon as a rupture in spacetime or as evidence of an unknown cosmic force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is a Galactic Center Filament?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galactic center filaments are long, narrow structures of gas and relativistic particles threaded by strong magnetic fields near the Milky Way\u2019s core. They are typically tens to hundreds of light-years long but only about one to three light-years wide. These filaments emit radio waves through synchrotron radiation, produced when high-energy electrons spiral along magnetic field lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA\u2019s HEASARC archive<\/a> describes the Snake filament as a non-thermal radio filament whose brightness arises from energetic particles confined within magnetic structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research<\/a> published by Northwestern University has shown that nearly 1,000 such filamentary strands have been identified near the Galactic Center, suggesting a magnetically complex environment shaped by black hole activity, supernovae, and compact objects. These are not cracks in spacetime. They are magnetized structures within interstellar gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pulsar Explanation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA\u2019s report states that a high-velocity pulsar traveling between roughly 450 and 900 kilometers per second likely struck the filament, distorting its ordered magnetic field and creating the visible kink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phys.org<\/a> reported that the pulsar\u2019s motion, estimated at up to 2 million miles per hour, compressed and twisted the magnetic field lines, producing the observed deformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evidence includes multi-wavelength data from Chandra X-ray observations and radio telescopes such as MeerKAT and the VLA. The pulsar-impact explanation is considered plausible based on current data, though not yet definitively confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Importantly, this event involves known astrophysical processes. It does not require invoking unknown invisible forces or gravitational anomalies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Viral Image Is Not Authentic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dramatic black \u201crip in space\u201d image circulating online does not match official NASA or Chandra releases. The authentic composite images show a relatively straight gray filament with a small kink and bright blue X-ray points, not a jagged gash through a star field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA\u2019s official image archive<\/a> and Chandra press materials<\/a> contain only composite radio and X-ray visuals consistent with scientific imaging standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Context: Recent Discoveries from Chandra<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fracture discovery is part of a broader series of scientific results from the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2025-2026. Recent highlights include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chandra observed a young solar-type star, HD 61005,<\/a> nicknamed \u201cthe Moth,\u201d revealing an extended X-ray-bright astrosphere or stellar wind bubble roughly 200 times the Earth\u2013Sun distance in size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A newly released all-sky catalog now includes approximately 1.3 million X-ray detections<\/a> accumulated over 22 years, providing extensive data on black holes, neutron stars, and galaxy clusters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These verified discoveries demonstrate that Chandra continues to produce high-quality scientific data. None involve cracks in spacetime or invisible cosmic rifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claim that NASA discovered a mysterious “cosmic crack” in the Milky Way is misleading. While NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory did report a 230-light-year fracture in a galactic filament near the Milky Way’s center, this is not a literal crack in space but rather a distortion in a magnetized gas structure, likely caused by a fast-moving pulsar. The viral image depicting a dramatic black rip through space is AI-generated and does not represent authentic NASA imagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n