what makes stars twinkle?

Answer 1

WHY DO STARS TWINKLE?


Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder ...
The scientific name for the twinkling of stars is stellar scintillation (or astronomical scintillation). Stars twinkle when we see them from the Earth's surface because we are viewing them through thick layers of turbulent (moving) air in the Earth's atmosphere.

Stars (except for the Sun) appear as tiny dots in the sky; as their light travels through the many layers of the Earth's atmosphere, the light of the star is bent (refracted) many times and in random directions (light is bent when it hits a change in density - like a pocket of cold air or hot air). This random refraction results in the star winking out (it looks as though the star moves a bit, and our eye interprets this as twinkling).

Stars closer to the horizon appear to twinkle more than stars that are overhead - this is because the light of stars near the horizon has to travel through more air than the light of stars overhead and so is subject to more refraction. Also, planets do not usually twinkle, because they are so close to us; they appear big enough that the twinkling is not noticeable (except when the air is extremely turbulent).

Stars would not appear to twinkle if we viewed them from outer space (or from a planet/moon that didn't have an atmosphere).

Answer 2

Stars twinkle partly due to you the perceiver and the speed of light, and distance involved. Light is the result of energy, and because of the distance involved the light travels across the open universe spreading out like a wave, such as when you drop a rock into the water a wave motion is caused. Because light travels at approx. 186,000 miles a second as the light waves come into your perception they seem to twinkle. Twinkling as each wave ripple comes into your eye.
Please note that light waves can bend due to gravity from other large masses in the area, thus affecting the twinkle as well.

Answer 3

Stars twinkle because of turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere. You can think as the atmosphere being made up of several "layers." Each layer has a different temperature and density. As the light from a star passes through the atmosphere, it is bent by each layer, and we perceive the twinkling.

Answer 4

Contrary to above answers, I don't think earth's atmosphere's different layers is the sole reason for that.
The light of the planets also has to pass through the very same earth's atmosphere layers, and it doesn't twinkle!
So, I think that any difference in density in the interstellar medium causes subtle deviations in light, and the farther a star is the more it twinkles.

Answer 5

Actually, they don't. What is happening is the distance from the stars causes the light to look like it's twinkling. If you will notice, the planets are close enough that when you see them, there is no twinkling.

Answer 6

Stars twinkle because the upper atmosphere distorts the light from the stars. It's kind of like when light reflex of the surface of the water.

Answer 7

does the sun twinkle????
no, so it has nothing to do with the atmosphere

in my opinion it is because, as prove by einstein every mass on the univers bend it, so when light from the star travel trought billions of lightyear to hit the earth it is not going throught an homogene univers. all the bends of the univers change the direction of the light ray wich causes the twinkling

Answer 8

The light coming through the many layers of the atmosphere breaks up and is diffused, causing the "twinkle effect".

Answer 9

nobody make it, we said the star is twinkle because of its light, some star radiate its light in high voltage, and some are not, it's twinkle also because of its wanna change a new power

Answer 10

the light before reaching earth, gets refracted when it passes through different layers of atmosphere as a result the stars appear to twinkle, as simple as this