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Bright stars in many James Webb Space Telescope images have long, sharply defined rays called diffraction spikes. They are a predictable effect of the telescope’s optics—not rays coming from the stars and not, by themselves, a sign that an image is damaged.
Why do stars in James Webb images have spikes?
The spikes form when starlight diffracts around the telescope’s optical structures. Webb’s 18-segment primary mirror and the struts that support its secondary mirror both contribute to the pattern. The result is the distinctive starburst around bright point sources: a real feature of how the telescope captures light, not decoration added afterward.
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NASA’s image guide describes eight sharply defined spikes around bright stars, while its caption for Webb’s First Deep Field calls out stars with six spikes. Those descriptions refer to particular views of the pattern; the number and visibility should not be assumed to look identical in every image or with every instrument.
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They are real in the image as an optical effect: the telescope’s mirror geometry and support struts shape the light reaching its detectors. They are not physical rays emitted by the stars. Webb’s diffraction-spikes infographic explains the effect in a diagram: NASA’s Webb diffraction-spikes infographic.
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That predictable pattern is different from detector artifacts. NASA notes that image specialists may also inspect and process issues such as cosmic rays, readout striations, and persistent signals around oversaturated stars. Seeing spikes around a bright star alone does not mean the image is broken.
Why do Webb images have color if it sees infrared?
Webb observes infrared wavelengths, which human eyes cannot see. Public-facing color images are made from measurements taken through different filters. Specialists stretch the data to reveal variation, combine filtered observations, address artifacts, and assign filter images to visible color channels. NASA describes the basic mapping this way: “Infrared light is invisible to our eyes, so image processors translate these wavelengths of light, in order, to visible colors.” (NASA Science, How Are Webb’s Full-Color Images Made?)
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Generally, shorter wavelengths are mapped to blue, somewhat longer ones to green, and the longest to red; additional filters may receive additional colors. The colors therefore translate measured infrared information into a view people can interpret. They are not simply imaginary details painted onto the scene. Image processors make presentation choices in consultation with scientists while aiming to preserve the data’s integrity.
What makes Webb’s star patterns distinctive?
Webb’s primary mirror is 6.6 metres in diameter and consists of 18 hexagonal segments. NASA lists the telescope’s wavelength range as 0.6–28.8 micrometres. The mirror and its supports help produce the characteristic diffraction patterns, while the filtered infrared observations are processed into the images published for the public. See NASA’s Telescope Overview for the current specifications.
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One familiar example is Webb’s First Deep Field. The NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day page identifies the image’s exposure as 12.5 hours and the SMACS 0723 galaxy cluster’s distance as 4.6 billion light-years; those figures describe that image and cluster, not every Webb observation. Its caption also points out the six-spike stars: NASA APOD: Webb’s First Deep Field.
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