Knowledge

Diffraction spike

Source 📝

301: 337: 447: 396: 277: 412: 259: 325: 104: 384: 289: 313: 485: 519: 428: 119: 232:(small apertures), its shape tends towards a polygon with the same number of sides as blades. Diffraction spreads out light waves passing through the aperture perpendicular to the roughly-straight edge, each edge yielding two spikes 180° apart. As the blades are uniformly distributed around the circle, on a diaphragm with an even number of blades, the diffraction spikes from blades on opposite sides overlap. Consequently, a diaphragm with 349: 42: 210: 31: 530:
mask generates a narrow "X" shape from four diffraction spikes (blue and green in the illustration); the other half generates a straight line from two spikes (red). Changing the focus causes the shapes to move with respect to each other. When the line passes exactly through the middle of the "X", the telescope is in focus and the mask can be removed.
529:
In amateur astrophotography, a Bahtinov mask can be used to focus small astronomical telescopes accurately. Light from a bright point such as an isolated bright star reaching different quadrants of the primary mirror or lens is first passed through grilles at three different orientations. Half of the
459:
In normal vision, diffraction through eyelashes – and due to the edges of the eyelids if one is squinting – produce many diffraction spikes. If it is windy, then the motion of the eyelashes cause spikes that move around and scintillate. After a blink, the eyelashes may come back in a different
372:
also exhibit diffraction spikes due to diffraction from the mirrors' edges. As before, two spikes are perpendicular to each edge orientation, resulting in six spikes (plus two fainter ones due to the spider supporting the secondary mirror) in photographs taken by the
300: 103: 503:
A similar effect is achieved by photographing bright lights through a window screen with vertical and horizontal wires. The angles of the bars of the cross depend on the orientation of the screen relative to the camera.
749: 138:
designs, the secondary mirror has to be positioned at the central axis of the telescope and so has to be held by struts within the telescope tube. No matter how fine these support rods are they
411: 258: 500:
embedded in the filter, or sometimes by the use of prisms in the filter. The number of stars varies by the construction of the filter, as does the number of points each star has.
336: 395: 435:
An improperly cleaned lens or cover glass, or one with a fingerprint may have parallel lines which diffract light similarly to support vanes. They can be distinguished from
739: 651: 220:
with moving blades are used in most modern camera lenses to restrict the light received by the film or sensor. While manufacturers attempt to make the
164:
A small number of reflecting telescopes designs avoid diffraction spikes by placing the secondary mirror off-axis. Early off-axis designs such as the
83:
While similar in appearance, this is a different effect to "vertical smear" or "blooming" that appears when bright light sources are captured by a
113:
Comparison of diffraction spikes for various strut arrangements of a reflecting telescope – the inner circle represents the secondary mirror
265: 276: 110: 664: 383: 833: 446: 722: 17: 217: 740:"6 Tips to Create Compelling Star Effects, Sun Stars, Starbursts, Sun Flares, or Diffraction Spikes in Your Photographs" 324: 288: 809: 130:
supporting the secondary mirror. These cause the four spike diffraction pattern commonly seen in astronomical images.
157:" appearance – and even modify their refractors to exhibit the same effect, or to assist with focusing when using a 919: 468: 201:
and their photographic images do not have the same problem as their lenses are not supported with spider vanes.
184:
perfectly over a small area and designs based on the Schupmann brachymedial are currently used for research of
149:
Although diffraction spikes can obscure parts of a photograph and are undesired in professional contexts, some
417:
Edges of the JWST primary mirror segments and spider colour-coded with their corresponding diffraction spikes
312: 173: 467:
Diffraction spike in normal human vision can also be caused by some fibers in the eye lens sometimes called
864: 633: 169: 146:
of the support struts. The spikes represent a loss of light that could have been used to image the star.
374: 165: 46: 493: 440: 914: 876: 672: 35: 348: 712: 158: 84: 142:
the incoming light from a subject star and this appears as diffraction spikes which are the
924: 560: 198: 181: 135: 73: 893: 8: 497: 461: 123: 564: 176:
and long focal ratios, which make them useless for research. The brachymedial design by
815: 589: 548: 770: 547:
Cheong, Kang Hao; Koh, Jin Ming; Tan, Joel Shi Quan; Lendermann, Markus (2018-11-16).
805: 718: 594: 576: 154: 150: 143: 819: 797: 584: 568: 460:
position and cause the diffraction spikes to jump around. This is classified as an
369: 177: 65: 268:
Comparison of diffraction spikes for apertures of different shapes and blade count
860: 789: 572: 694: 484: 908: 580: 523: 513: 801: 56:
are lines radiating from bright light sources, causing what is known as the
872: 744: 628: 598: 518: 884: 549:"Computational Imaging Prediction of Starburst-Effect Diffraction Spikes" 185: 139: 127: 69: 790:"Removing image artifacts due to dirty camera lenses and thin occluders" 496:, also known as a star filter, creates a star pattern using a very fine 427: 118: 192: 788:
Gu, Jinwei; Ramamoorthi, Ravi; Belhumeur, Peter; Nayar, Shree (2009).
191:
There are also a small number of off-axis unobstructed all-reflecting
365: 180:, which uses a combination of mirrors and lenses, is able to correct 436: 34:
Diffraction spikes from various stars seen on an image taken by the
402: 229: 221: 77: 41: 439:
as they form a prominent smear in a single direction, and from
225: 209: 787: 638: 771:"James Webb: 'Fully focused' telescope beats expectations" 30: 153:
like the visual effect they give to bright stars – the "
27:
Lines radiating from bright light sources in photographs
546: 522:
Use of diffraction spikes to focus a telescope with a
49:
due to its hexagonal aperture and three support struts
794:
ACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 papers on - SIGGRAPH Asia '09
72:
around the support vanes of the secondary mirror in
870: 834:"Why Do Stars Look Pointy to Humans? | Britannica" 627:Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (15 April 2001). 389:The first JWST deep field with diffraction spikes 906: 710: 626: 80:, and around eyelashes and eyelids in the eye. 652:Internal Reflections and Diffraction Spikes. 172:telescopes have serious limitations such as 706: 704: 612:Brockway, Don (November 1989). "Scenics". 737: 588: 701: 611: 517: 483: 445: 426: 208: 204: 117: 40: 29: 891: 64:in photographs and in vision. They are 14: 907: 195:which give optically perfect images. 359: 437:spikes due to non-circular aperture 24: 488:Effect of a triangular star filter 479: 76:, or edges of non-circular camera 25: 936: 892:Kratzke, Bastian (15 July 2020). 854: 507: 410: 401:JWST image of the spiral galaxy 394: 382: 347: 335: 323: 311: 299: 287: 275: 257: 102: 95: 826: 781: 752:from the original on 2022-07-07 422: 763: 738:Vorenkamp, Todd (2015-09-16). 731: 687: 657: 645: 629:"Diffraction spikes explained" 620: 605: 540: 13: 1: 533: 474: 45:Diffraction spikes caused in 865:Astronomy Picture of the Day 861:Diffraction spikes explained 654:Caltech. Accessed April 2010 634:Astronomy Picture of the Day 454: 228:, when stopped down to high 7: 431:Streaks due to a dirty lens 85:charge-coupled device (CCD) 10: 941: 894:"Best lenses for Sunstars" 717:. SPIE Press. p. 61. 573:10.1038/s41598-018-34400-z 511: 375:James Webb Space Telescope 342:10 blades giving 10 spikes 213:Apertures blades of camera 47:James Webb Space Telescope 711:Rudolf Kingslake (1992). 330:9 blades giving 18 spikes 306:7 blades giving 14 spikes 282:5 blades giving 10 spikes 90: 443:by their oblique angle. 354:4 blades giving 4 spikes 318:8 blades giving 8 spikes 294:6 blades giving 6 spikes 224:circular for a pleasing 134:In the vast majority of 802:10.1145/1661412.1618490 405:with diffraction spikes 920:Science of photography 526: 489: 451: 432: 244:  is even, and 2 236:  blades yields 214: 131: 50: 38: 36:Hubble Space Telescope 871:Merrifield, Michael; 714:Optics in Photography 669:homepage.ntlworld.com 521: 487: 449: 430: 212: 205:Non-circular aperture 199:Refracting telescopes 121: 74:reflecting telescopes 44: 33: 18:Sunstar (photography) 877:"Diffraction Spikes" 450:Sun obscured by tree 182:chromatic aberration 136:reflecting telescope 126:telescope with four 614:Popular Photography 565:2018NatSR...816919L 498:diffraction grating 494:cross screen filter 462:entoptic phenomenon 151:amateur astronomers 124:Newtonian reflector 838:www.britannica.com 675:on 3 February 2012 553:Scientific Reports 527: 490: 452: 433: 248:  spikes if 240:  spikes if 215: 132: 54:Diffraction spikes 51: 39: 724:978-0-8194-0763-4 665:"About This Site" 370:segmented mirrors 360:Segmented mirrors 155:Star of Bethlehem 144:Fourier transform 16:(Redirected from 932: 915:Astrophotography 901: 898:phillipreeve.net 888: 848: 847: 845: 844: 830: 824: 823: 785: 779: 778: 777:. 16 March 2022. 767: 761: 760: 758: 757: 735: 729: 728: 708: 699: 698: 691: 685: 684: 682: 680: 671:. Archived from 661: 655: 649: 643: 642: 624: 618: 617: 609: 603: 602: 592: 544: 414: 398: 386: 351: 339: 327: 315: 303: 291: 279: 261: 252:  is odd. 178:Ludwig Schupmann 122:The optics of a 106: 68:caused by light 58:starburst effect 21: 940: 939: 935: 934: 933: 931: 930: 929: 905: 904: 881:Deep Sky Videos 857: 852: 851: 842: 840: 832: 831: 827: 812: 786: 782: 769: 768: 764: 755: 753: 745:B&H eXplora 736: 732: 725: 709: 702: 693: 692: 688: 678: 676: 663: 662: 658: 650: 646: 625: 621: 610: 606: 545: 541: 536: 516: 510: 482: 480:Special effects 477: 457: 425: 418: 415: 406: 399: 390: 387: 362: 355: 352: 343: 340: 331: 328: 319: 316: 307: 304: 295: 292: 283: 280: 271: 270: 269: 267: 262: 218:Iris diaphragms 207: 116: 115: 114: 112: 107: 98: 93: 28: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 938: 928: 927: 922: 917: 903: 902: 889: 868: 856: 855:External links 853: 850: 849: 825: 810: 780: 762: 730: 723: 700: 686: 656: 644: 619: 604: 538: 537: 535: 532: 512:Main article: 509: 506: 481: 478: 476: 473: 456: 453: 424: 421: 420: 419: 416: 409: 407: 400: 393: 391: 388: 381: 361: 358: 357: 356: 353: 346: 344: 341: 334: 332: 329: 322: 320: 317: 310: 308: 305: 298: 296: 293: 286: 284: 281: 274: 264: 263: 256: 255: 254: 206: 203: 170:Schiefspiegler 109: 108: 101: 100: 99: 97: 94: 92: 89: 87:image sensor. 26: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 937: 926: 923: 921: 918: 916: 913: 912: 910: 899: 895: 890: 886: 882: 878: 874: 873:Szymanek, Nik 869: 866: 862: 859: 858: 839: 835: 829: 821: 817: 813: 811:9781605588582 807: 803: 799: 796:. p. 1. 795: 791: 784: 776: 772: 766: 751: 747: 746: 741: 734: 726: 720: 716: 715: 707: 705: 696: 690: 674: 670: 666: 660: 653: 648: 640: 636: 635: 630: 623: 615: 608: 600: 596: 591: 586: 582: 578: 574: 570: 566: 562: 558: 554: 550: 543: 539: 531: 525: 524:Bahtinov mask 520: 515: 514:Bahtinov mask 508:Bahtinov mask 505: 501: 499: 495: 486: 472: 470: 465: 463: 448: 444: 442: 438: 429: 413: 408: 404: 397: 392: 385: 380: 379: 378: 376: 371: 367: 350: 345: 338: 333: 326: 321: 314: 309: 302: 297: 290: 285: 278: 273: 272: 266: 260: 253: 251: 247: 243: 239: 235: 231: 227: 223: 219: 211: 202: 200: 196: 194: 189: 187: 183: 179: 175: 171: 167: 162: 160: 156: 152: 147: 145: 141: 137: 129: 125: 120: 111: 105: 96:Support vanes 88: 86: 81: 79: 75: 71: 67: 63: 59: 55: 48: 43: 37: 32: 19: 897: 880: 841:. Retrieved 837: 828: 793: 783: 774: 765: 754:. Retrieved 743: 733: 713: 689: 677:. Retrieved 673:the original 668: 659: 647: 632: 622: 613: 607: 559:(1): 16919. 556: 552: 542: 528: 502: 491: 469:suture lines 466: 458: 434: 423:Dirty optics 364:Images from 363: 249: 245: 241: 237: 233: 216: 197: 190: 186:double stars 163: 148: 133: 128:spider vanes 82: 61: 57: 53: 52: 925:Diffraction 885:Brady Haran 695:"Equipment" 193:anastigmats 174:astigmatism 166:Herschelian 70:diffracting 909:Categories 843:2024-02-18 756:2023-02-17 679:12 January 534:References 475:Other uses 366:telescopes 581:2045-2322 455:In vision 441:CCD bloom 230:f-numbers 78:apertures 66:artifacts 775:BBC News 750:Archived 599:30446668 403:NGC 7469 222:aperture 168:and the 140:diffract 62:sunstars 820:7326293 590:6240111 561:Bibcode 818:  808:  721:  597:  587:  579:  91:Causes 816:S2CID 616:: 55. 368:with 226:bokeh 806:ISBN 719:ISBN 681:2022 639:NASA 595:PMID 577:ISSN 863:by 798:doi 585:PMC 569:doi 159:CCD 60:or 911:: 896:. 883:. 879:. 875:. 836:. 814:. 804:. 792:. 773:. 748:. 742:. 703:^ 667:. 637:. 631:. 593:. 583:. 575:. 567:. 555:. 551:. 492:A 471:. 464:. 377:. 188:. 161:. 900:. 887:. 867:. 846:. 822:. 800:: 759:. 727:. 697:. 683:. 641:. 601:. 571:: 563:: 557:8 250:n 246:n 242:n 238:n 234:n 20:)

Index

Sunstar (photography)

Hubble Space Telescope

James Webb Space Telescope
artifacts
diffracting
reflecting telescopes
apertures
charge-coupled device (CCD)



Newtonian reflector
spider vanes
reflecting telescope
diffract
Fourier transform
amateur astronomers
Star of Bethlehem
CCD
Herschelian
Schiefspiegler
astigmatism
Ludwig Schupmann
chromatic aberration
double stars
anastigmats
Refracting telescopes

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.