James Webb Space Telescope takes stunning image of stars being born | Technology News

This image, in particular, focuses on one of three giant molecular clouds complex called N79 South or S1. The star-shaped pattern that you can see here is a series of diffraction spikes. Just like most other telescopes, Webb uses a mirror to collect light. The design of the mirror on the telescope causes this artifact.

The six largest “star spikes” that you can see in the image are caused by the hexagonal symmetry of the Webb telescope’s 18 primary mirror segments. These sorts of patterns are usually most visible around very bright and compact objects where a lot of light comes from the same place. Even though most galaxies appear very small to our eyes, they are much more spread out than a single star and thus do not cause this pattern.

This particular image centres on one of the three giant molecular cloud complexes, dubbed N79 South (S1 for short). The distinct ‘starburst’ pattern surrounding this bright object is a series of diffraction spikes. All telescopes that use a mirror to collect light, as Webb does, have this form of artifact that arises from the design of the telescope. In Webb’s case, the six largest starburst spikes appear because of the hexagonal symmetry of Webb’s 18 primary mirror segments. Patterns like these are only noticeable around very bright, compact objects, where all the light comes from the same place. Most galaxies, even though they appear very small to our eyes, are darker and more spread out than a single star, and therefore do not show this pattern.