The trick to identifying JWST images in an instant

"From Earth and across space, our telescopes continually image the Universe. Beyond their scientific value, these images are visually alluring. They don't, however, represent what the unaided human eye sees. Hubble, for instance, often includes ultraviolet and infrared light: information invisible to humans. Observations from ALMA occur in radio light, and must be "translated" into human vision. Similarly for X-ray observatories, like Chandra, we assign colors to visually interpret the data."

"From even a visual inspection, however, there is one key to identifying JWST images. That key is the pattern of diffraction spikes that appear around point sources, such as stars. Whereas many observatories, like Hubble, produce "diamond spike" patterns, JWST's spikes are unique. There are six large spikes and two smaller spikes to every bright point source in JWST images. This includes: active black holes in the MIRI images, foreground Milky Way stars in deep NIRCam images, and even bright moons within planetary systems."

Telescopes across Earth and space capture images that extend beyond visible light, often recording ultraviolet, infrared, radio, or X-ray wavelengths. Those non-visible datasets require color mapping and translation to produce images that human eyes can interpret. Different observatories and collaborations use varied color palettes and algorithms to represent their data. JWST produces a distinctive diffraction-spike pattern around point sources due to its honeycomb-patterned hexagonal primary mirrors and three main support struts. Every bright point source in JWST images shows six large spikes and two smaller spikes, visible around stars, active galactic nuclei in MIRI images, foreground Milky Way stars in NIRCam images, and bright moons.

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