Why doesn't it seem that stars move?

Question

We know that the moon moves around the Earth. And that the Earth moves around the sun. And that stars are pretty stationary. So why doesn't seem that stars rise and set like the sun?

Answer 1

Stars do move, as well as rise and set along the horizon just as the sun and moon do.

Stars, just like objects in out solar system, orbit the center of their galaxies. However, most stars are just too far away to tell any discernible movement from day to day.

As the Earth rotates on its axis during the course of the night, stars will appear to rise and set on the horizon. If you have a camera with the capability of a very long exposure, you take a picture of the sky over the course of a few hours. When the picture is developed, you wont see just points of light, but rather streaks across the sky as the stars moved every so slightly.
Also, as the Earth revolves around the run throughout the year, certain stars become visible and others not based on out position in the solar system. Some constellations can only be seen during the summer/winter since the Earth is located on the opposite side of the sun during those times.

Answer 2

While driving along have you ever looked off at a bldg or other structure/object near the horizon? It seems to take forever to get past it while you zip right by a tree or sign on the side of the road you're on. Same reason for stars, they are so far away it seems they are motionless. And, stars/constellations do "rise" and "set" like the sun because of the earth's rotation on its axis. Early in the night at the right time of year, find the Big Dipper or Orion or whatever. Then wait a few hours and go look and it will be higher in the sky. Again, it seems to take longer for the constellations ro move than it does for the Sun since the Sun is a whole bunch closer. If you want to see a "fast" moving star, find a book or website that shows where Barnard's star is.; and watch it for a few nights. It has the appearance of moving the most night after night.

Answer 3

Hi. All the above answers are correct, but in response to your question: stars DO seem to rise and set like the sun.

Go out on a clear night and pick one bright star that's near a reference point--say, right in line with a telephone pole, or just above something on the horizon. Then, go back an hour later and stand in the same spot. You'll see that the star seems to have moved. Like your question suggests, this is because the earth spins. The north star is the one star that doesn't seem to move, because it's right in line with the earth's axis.

Also, some constellations are only visible at certain times of year. In the U.S. Northeast, where I live, Orion (the one with a belt of three bright stars) shows up in the fall and is only visible through the winter. Again, like you guessed, this is because the earth is going around the sun.

Answer 4

All of the previous answers are correct. I just want to add something to supplement them. Imagine being on a flat featureless area like the Bonneville salt flats. Place a basketball in any one spot. Then walk one mile and place another basketball at your feet. Repeat this process until you have 5 basketballs in a row, each one mile apart and in a straight line. Now if you continued to walk another 100 miles and placed a marker where you stopped and then turned exactly 90 degrees either left or right and walked 50 miles, stopped and turn the same way again, you would be able to observe, with a telescope, each of the five basketballs in a row off to either your left or right. You will be able to observe that the first two are nearer to one another than the 2nd and 3rd are, so on and so forth. If you turn another 90 degrees you would be facing the marker you left. If you walk back toward the marker and go 50 miles beyond, and repeat the process of observation when you reach the end, you will observe the basketballs in the same way as before except that they are off in the oppsite direction. This crudely illustrates how astronomers calculate the distance of stars in relation to one another, and through that, I wanted to point out that even though the first basketball is the most distant, it still moved in relation to your position. But keep in mind that this exercise did not consider the motion of the stars in their own right.

Answer 5

the earth moves not the stars

Answer 6

They do, If you go outside just after sunset and pick a constellation that's just over the horizon, you can go outside a few hours later and find that it's moved higher into the sky.

Have you ever seen a time lapse photo of the night sky?
Here's one taken of Polaris. (it's the one closest to the center)
http://www.moonbluff.com/polaris.html

They aren't big obvious objects so it's harder to notice.

Answer 7

Because stars don't move

Answer 8

relative displacement of star is comparetively very very less compared to the distance between the star and earth and also star has a very large size compared to earth

Answer 9

because we're so far from the stars....the same reason why we dont feel the earth move

Answer 10

stars do move and you can actually tell time by observing their movement