https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=2A12%3AF41%3A145B%3A1300%3AC59%3A505F%3AB2DB%3A7572explain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-09T18:32:54ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3203:_Binary_Star&diff=404950Talk:3203: Binary Star2026-02-05T12:19:42Z<p>2A12:F41:145B:1300:C59:505F:B2DB:7572: Reference to the James Web Space Telescope</p>
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here before the explanation [[User:Qwertyuiopfromdefly|Qwertyuiopfromdefly]] ([[User talk:Qwertyuiopfromdefly|talk]]) 04:47, 5 February 2026 (UTC)<br />
: Me too [[Special:Contributions/115.70.50.73|115.70.50.73]]<br />
:: It was me as well :::;) [[Special:Contributions/216.25.182.141|216.25.182.141]] 05:34, 5 February 2026 (UTC)<br />
::: Here before the comments [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:15, 5 February 2026 (UTC)<br />
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Randall has been, uh, funnier… I thought I must be missing something, a clever joke or some astronomers insider, but no—that's really all there was to it. Well. {{unsigned ip|2a02:908:c30:5000:b86c:d747:e182:c327|07:54, 5 February 2026 (UTC)}}<br />
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Nice to see that Randall has graduated from the woes of [[1029]], and now can draw Morocco-style stars :-) --[[Special:Contributions/2001:A62:5F7:FB01:BF80:8165:D7C9:B014|2001:A62:5F7:FB01:BF80:8165:D7C9:B014]] 08:24, 5 February 2026 (UTC)<br />
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The idea of pointed stars alongside normal ones is probably a reference to the James Web Space Telescope. In its images, very bright stars have diffraction spikes, caused by the segmented hexagonal primary mirrors and the three-strut support of the secondary mirror. However, these form 8 spiked images not 5. The Hubble Space Telescope forms 4 spike images, however the effect was not so noticeable with Hubble. [[Special:Contributions/2A12:F41:145B:1300:C59:505F:B2DB:7572|2A12:F41:145B:1300:C59:505F:B2DB:7572]] 12:19, 5 February 2026 (UTC) dww-uk</div>2A12:F41:145B:1300:C59:505F:B2DB:7572