speckle pattern

noun

, Astronomy.

1. the visual appearance of a star as viewed through a large telescope, with irregularities caused by the distorting effect of local turbulence in the earth's atmosphere.

Word History and Origins

Origin of speckle pattern¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Based on the speckle pattern generated by billions of electrons, machine-learning algorithms can calculate where the atoms were in the sample and what their shapes might be.

From Scientific American

The researchers did so by fine-tuning a model until the speckle pattern it generated matched the experimentally produced one.

From Scientific American

“Most people hate pigeons, but if you observe them closely they’re beautiful,” he says, pointing out a white feather and an interesting speckle pattern.

From New York Times

One limitation is that a stationary target would go unnoticed because it would not change the speckle pattern, and the method relies on tracking these changes.

From Scientific American

On the night of her husband’s election to office in 2008, she wore a Narciso Rodriguez dress in a fiery red-and-black speckle pattern.

From The Guardian