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Welcome! pdx.social is an online community for people living in the greater Portland, OR region. 🌲 Established April 6th, 2017 🌲

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Science on Tap

A great explanation of how diffraction spikes are formed and why they are six-pointed on the James Webb Space Telescope.

astrodon.social/@kellylepo/109

Astrodon - The Astro CommunityKelly Lepo (@kellylepo@astrodon.social)Attached: 1 image The most frequently asked question that I get about #JWST images is: "Why do the stars look like that?". In other words: why are the stars "spikey"? The answer has to do with both the wave nature of light, the shape of the telescope's primary mirror, and the position of the struts that hold up the secondary mirror. The full infographic on JWST diffraction spikes can be downloaded here: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/01G529MX46J7AFK61GAMSHKSSN (1/7) #thread #astrodon #astronomy
Jul 28, 2023, 02:13 PM·Public·Ivory for iOS
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