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Diffraction Spikes

All articles tagged with #diffraction spikes

space18 days ago•11 min saved

Webb Exposes Messier 77’s Energetic Core

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a striking new image of Messier 77, revealing a brilliantly bright galactic core powered by a supermassive black hole (about eight million solar masses) and a gas- and dust-rich disc fueling active star formation. Webb’s near-infrared view highlights a central bar and a luminous starburst ring, while the mid-infrared reveals cooler dust extending the view beyond visible light. The orange rays are diffraction spikes—optical artifacts from Webb’s hexagonal mirrors and support structure, not real features. Messier 77 also shows outer hydrogen filaments and a faint ring indicating extended star-forming activity, earning it the nickname Squid Galaxy. The image comes from observing program #3707, designed to study star formation in massive nearby galaxies and to build a rich dataset for future research.

via Interesting Engineering|

#active-galactic-nucleus #diffraction-spikes #james-webb-space-telescope

space-and-physics2 years ago•2 min saved

Unveiling the Mystery of 8-Spiked Stars in JWST Images

The iconic eight spikes seen in images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are a result of the telescope's architecture. The secondary mirror, held by three struts, produces diffraction spikes, with each strut creating two spikes at 90 degrees. The primary mirror, made of 18 hexagonal pieces, also contributes to the spikes. By aligning four spikes from the mirror with four spikes from the struts, a total of eight spikes appear. The shape of the mirrors, particularly the edges, produces the most prominent spikes.

via IFLScience|

#diffraction-spikes #jwst #primary-mirror

astronomy2 years ago•7 min saved

"Mastering Instant JWST Image Identification"

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) produces visually stunning images of the Universe, but the colors assigned to the images are not "true color" and vary depending on the algorithms used. One key to identifying JWST images is the unique pattern of diffraction spikes around point sources, such as stars, which is caused by the telescope's hexagonal mirrors and support struts. JWST's diffraction spikes are different from those produced by other observatories, such as Hubble. The spikes are a telltale signature of JWST's configuration and can be seen in images of active black holes, foreground Milky Way stars, and even bright moons within planetary systems.

via Big Think|

#astronomy #diffraction-spikes #galaxies