10/10/2026
Why do my stars all have wings? No....it's not that I photograph a lot of birds and my camera was confused. ๐ฆ
I am posting two photos I took at different times a few nights ago. One is shot wide open at f/1.4 and the other stopped down to f/2.8.
Here is the nerdy explanation:
When you stop down the lens to f/2.8, the physical aperture blades close down slightly and block out those problematic outer rays, resulting in clean, sharp, pinpoint stars.
Why This Happens at f/1.4 (or wide open)
Astigmatism: This occurs when light rays traveling in different planes (horizontal and vertical) fail to converge at the exact same focal point. Near the edges of the frame, point sources like stars get stretched into ovals, wings, or "seagull" shapes.
So now I need to reshoot all my previous astro photgraphy photos following this mindset.