Ever wondered what those spikes of light are in photos of stars taken through large telescopes?
No, they are not due to poetic license as used by astronomers when they apply colors to those originally-black and white images. Please see the earlier post, "Photoshop universe" for some background on the subject.
From Galaxyzoo.org -- "The spikes of light happen because the star’s light bends around the four support beams that hold up the telescope’s mirror. They aren’t really part of the star."
More properly, they are called diffraction spikes.
From Wikipedia -- "Diffraction spikes are lines radiating from bright light sources in reflecting telescope images. They are a kind of lens flare artifact due to light diffracting around the support vanes of the secondary mirror. Refracting telescopes and their photographic images do not have the same problem. Although diffraction spikes can obscure parts of a photograph and are undesired in professional contexts, some amateur astronomers like the visual effect they give to bright stars - the "Star of Bethlehem" appearance - and even modify their refractors to exhibit the same effect, or to assist with focusing when using a Charge-coupled device."
Related post: "Photoshop universe"
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