Design summary draft 1

Design summary draft 1 - Why stars look spiky in images from the James Webb Space Telescope

Mary Beth Griggs, in “Why stars look spiky in images from the James Webb Space Telescope,” explains the technology behind the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and how it compares to its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope with regards to the number of diffraction spikes. The article was published in the American technology news website known as The Verge on the 16^th of July 2022.

The article begins by giving a very brief explanation on the working principal of a telescope. It then discusses the differences between the Hubble Telescope and the JWST. The reason why the JWST is becoming popular is because of its improved design and technology.

There are several mentioned examples in the article explaining the engineering and technology used by the JWST. Some of which are, the JWST uses hexagonal mirrors primarily instead of a single round mirror used in the Hubble Telescope results in an image with six diffractions. The JWST uses an NIRCam (near-infrared light) that shows more prominent diffraction spikes because stars are very bright at those wavelengths. The engineering behind the struts is also important because the amount and placement of struts decide the pattern of the spike.