Why do stars appear to give off five rays, and always oriented the same way?

Question

Every time I look at stars, either in the sky or in photos, they give off five rays, oriented like a person who has arms and legs out to the side. Why is this? Why five specifically and not more or less, since stars are generally spherical?

In: 10

Answer 1

You might have astigmatism. If you google images of lights at night with astigmatism you will see the halos around lights. Glasses can fix this