[MtnClimber]

I thought that the stars showed that starburst because they were far in front of the target of the image and were out of focus. Is that not correct?

[fluffy]

Diffraction spikes are caused by light interacting with the internal support structure of the telescope. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction_spike

[dragnet2]

I’m lucky to achieve a good focus on any star, let alone trying to refine a focus between two objects at say 400 light years apart. A focuser that could achieve that is way above my pay grade, if it exists.

Btw, I don’t think that’s correct. There is software available that will allow you to specify certain stars in an image to spike...And you can rotate the spikes etc...It looks real cool, but it’s manipulated.