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diffraction spike

(type of artifact in astronomical images of point sources)

A diffraction spike is a type of artifact seen in images taken on telescopes. They are short light-colored lines leading away from point sources, which are caused by diffraction by mirror supports that light entering the telescope must pass. Hubble Space Telescope images often show a cross or × pattern centered on each star, created by HST's four mirror supports. JWST images often shows six (like an asterisk, "*"), created by its six supports.


(telescopes)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction_spike
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010415.html
https://www.celestron.com/blogs/knowledgebase/what-is-a-diffraction-spike

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