 When you're shooting an open star cluster, I think classic diffraction spikes like you get with a Newtonian reflector telescope look really, really good. The diffraction spikes effect is strongest on bright stars. And so it helps bring those stars in the cluster out from the rest of the scene. And the reason you get the classic sort of X style or plus style diffraction spikes is due to the design of a Newtonian reflector where light enters the front of the telescope, hits the primary mirror in the bottom before bouncing back off the secondary mirror and then off to your camera on the side. And the diffraction spikes come from this thing holding the secondary mirror in place called a spider. And the actual metal pieces here are often called the spider veins. A camera lens or a refractor telescope focuses light differently and it's a straight through design. Sometimes you'll see diffraction spikes with a camera lens if you stop down the aperture internally because the internal iris, which controls the aperture isn't perfectly round. But these diffraction spikes are usually a little bit crazier and less predictable. And to me, they're not quite as aesthetically pleasing. I know some people love them though. But anyways, I decided recently that I wanted to start testing cheap ways to add diffraction spikes to lenses. And I wanted to do this physically, not with software. I know there are paid software plugins that can achieve a really nice look these days. But I'm just interested in how to achieve it in camera, as we'd say. I do all my initial astrophotography testing from my light polluted home near Boston, Massachusetts, right here where I'm filming. And then only once I figured out something, to my satisfaction, do I really use a new technique or a new piece of gear at a dark site? Because typically if I'm driving, I don't want to waste too much time with testing when I'm at a dark site. So anyways, last night it was clear and I had a few tests in mind to do right here in the backyard. The first test is I've been working to get this old Soviet telephoto lens that I bought off eBay for a hundred bucks to focus properly. It's called the TR-3S Photo Sniper. And I saw some photos taken with it online. I thought it was worth a gamble. When it arrived, I quickly found it wouldn't focus to infinity with any camera I adapted to it. And the Iris, which is again, the blades to control the aperture were permanently stuck at f22. Luckily, this lens is very easy to take apart and repair. And so I've been working on it and I thought I had it working. And so then last night I confirmed it was working. So it's really a pretty nice value at 300 millimeters f4.5, but if you do buy one, expect to put a bit of work into it. I might do another video about all that in the future. So last night I finished testing the lens. I realized my reconstruction of it had worked. That went by pretty quickly. So I thought I'd try another test. And so I taped some yellow thread to the front of the lens in the same X pattern that you'd get with a spider on a Newtonian. And my goal here was to see if I could mimic the diffraction spikes that spider veins usually give you, except with a wide open lens. I think I probably should have tested it on a really bright star, but instead I was really hankering to photograph this thing called the coat hanger cluster or also known as Brocky's cluster, which is just right off the beak of Cygnus. And here's the result. And I think that this worked reasonably well. It's a subtle effect, but I think it looks pretty natural. And I think the spikes would have come out a little bit better with all of the light pollution. I Googled around to see what others have used to make spikes like this on refractive optics. And I see many people recommending fishing line or guitar strings. So I have some other things to test, but I thought for a first try, thread worked pretty well and you can't beat the price. I think I estimated if this much thread in a little tape, maybe four cents for this experiment. Well, that's it for this five minute Friday this week. Next week, I'm gonna be leaving for my annual trip to visit my family. I'll be hanging out in Minnesota and Wisconsin. So all of a video about how I pack for airline travel as an astrophotographer. Till then, this has been Niko Carver at nebulaphotos.com. Clear skies.