Nocturne

Tools / Star Spikes

Toolbar tool

Star Spikes

Add artistic diffraction spikes to the brightest stars — the classic reflector-telescope look, tunable with a live preview.

Nocturne's Star Spikes dialog with length, intensity, count, rotation, variation and star-colour sliders
Length, intensity, star count, rotation, variation and star colour — with the spikes appearing live as you drag. Click to enlarge.

What it does

Star Spikes adds the four-pointed cross that a reflector telescope’s supports draw on bright stars. It is purely decorative: a finishing touch that gives a refractor picture the classic reflector look.

How to use it

  1. Click Star Spikes in the toolbar (on a stretched image).
  2. Adjust Length, Intensity, Number of stars and Rotation — the preview updates live. Variation lets each star's spikes differ a little in length, angle and brightness, so they do not look stamped from one template; Star colour sets how much of each star's own colour its spikes carry.
  3. Apply when you like it.

Subtle usually wins. A little length and intensity reads as elegant; a lot reads as artificial.

A word of advice

Tips

It only spikes the brightest handful of stars, so the field stays clean.

Bright stars with diffraction spikes applied
Spikes on the brightest stars. Click to enlarge.

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