Observational Signatures of Traversable Wormholes

Abstract: In this paper, we study the observational signatures of traversable Simpson-Visser wormholes illuminated by luminous celestial spheres and orbiting hot spots. We demonstrate that when light sources and observers are on the same side of the wormholes, the images of the wormholes mimic those of black holes. However, when the light sources are positioned on the opposite side from observers, photons traversing the wormhole throat generate distinct observational signatures. Specifically, unlike black hole images, the wormhole images are confined within the critical curve, resulting in smaller centroid variations. Furthermore, the light curve of hot spots can exhibit additional peaks.