Why do stars blink?

Answer 1

their eyes get dry

Im sorry actually, it is Earths atmosphere that gives the appearnce of them blinking, unless your are talking about quasars and some other stars that actually flucuate in their brightness

Answer 2

Actually, here on earth they look like the stars are blinking. The reasons behind are:

The first and main reason is that there are temperature differences in layers of the upper atmosphere. As the temperature (and thus density) change, it is like a lens moving in front of the star, shifting the focal point slightly and causing the light to either become more focused or more diffused. Since this happens quickly, it looks like blinking.

The second reason would be that the star itself is going through rapid changes of brightness. This would not be noticeable to the naked eye, except for the rare instance where a star freaks out and goes supernova.

The third reason would be that some material is passing in between your eyes and the star, maybe a cloud, or perhaps something a little further out, like space debris of some kind.

Hmmm... if you want some unique answer.... they are not blinking but winking to you... ^_^

Good night!

Answer 3

All the atmosphere guys have explained why you see a "twinkle" in the stars.

Stars with planets or in binary systems, however, will also seem to "blink." This is because the planet or secondary star will pass between the star and the earth at some time. This will diminish the brightness of the star in question.

Answer 4

On a clear, dark night, our eyes can see about 6,000 or so stars in the sky. They seem to twinkle, or change their brightness, all the time. In fact, most of the stars are shining with a steady light. The movement of air (sometimes called turbulence) in the atmosphere of Earth causes the starlight to get slightly bent as it travels from the distant star through the atmosphere down to us on the ground. This means that some of the light reaches us directly and some gets bent slightly away. To our eyes, this makes the star seem to twinkle.

You will notice that stars closer to the horizon will appear to twinkle more than other stars. This is because there is a lot more atmosphere between you and a star near the horizon than between you and a star higher in the sky. Go out some night soon and have a look!

Answer 5

Having traveled for at least 4.5 light-years, probably much more, one would be kind enough to grant them a little variation. It is not the stars' fault that the light that had left them so long ago "blink" as you put it. It is the "stuff" that is in the light's way, the shifts in minute deviations of refraction that had cause the variations in light intensity. If you were to get up into space, out of Earth's atmosphere, most likely, the same stars will appear brilliantly.

Answer 6

If we see stars out of atmosphere the light from the stars will not vary but because we see the light from stars after it has passed through the atmosphere, the dust particles and other things present in the atm cause variations in the light coming from the stars and they appear to be blinking.

Answer 7

Stars seem to blink due to the phenomenon called 'refraction of light'
when light from the stars travel through different layers of atmosphere of the earth, they undergo refraction for a few seconds or more which makes the light from the stars cut from our line of view. Once the light resumes its path, then the light reaches our eyes again and we are able to see the stars again-this cutting and resuming of the light path makes the stars to twinkle

Answer 8

Stars don't blink.

Answer 9

Stars dont blink , they shine

Answer 10

stars don't blink it was probably a satellite.Or it could have been the international space station if it was moving.There are stars called pulsars that emit radio waves and spins rapidly.When astronomers detected the radio waves they thought is was L.G.M.(little Green Men)