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
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@kellylepo I absolutely love this info! And it's how I came across https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/06/16/4253961.htm?site=galileo/newsanalysis& to explain why stars are typically presented as having five points! Same mechanics at work, only in the human eyeball.
Yes. *I* only see stars as points because my visual acuity is trash and "smeared tiny dots" are what passes for "points" in my vision. But I always wondered why 5 pointed stars were a "thing." It was when someone somewhere linked the infographic of yours to the natural eye sutures and stars it was, "Holy hell!"
@Romaq Neat! I'd always heard that we see points of light as star shapes because of our eyelashes, but this makes more sense.