I use the word 'twinkle' at the risk of sounding like a disney character, but I'm curious none the less!
2006-10-28 21:39:57 · 14 answers · asked by killer penguin 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
If you want to avoid disney, you can call it "seeing".
Seeing, or twinkling, is caused variations in density of the air, which get blown across your line of sight by the wind. The variations in density are associated with variations in temperature, and so most of the seeing effect occurs in layers where the atmosphere changes temperature rapidly. This layering is not completely stable, and so the effect is that of a randomly-moving optical medium. Planets do not twinkle as easily as stars, because they have a larger angular size.
A similar effect is the bands of light on the bottom of a swimming pool caused by ripples on the water surface bending sunlight. If you looked up at the Sun from the bottom of the pool, you would see the Sun twinkle.
2006-10-29 02:18:54 · answer #1 · answered by cosmo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Such a simple question, and so MANY wrong answers! Although some stars themselves vary in brightness, they do it on a much longer time scale. Twinkling is caused by the star's light passing through turbulence (not dust or pollution) in Earth's atmosphere. Planets don't twinkle because they have larger apparent diameters than stars, so are less affected by air turbulence.
2016-05-22 04:57:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course the starlight is a steady stream of photons traveling "at the speed of light" from such a far distance that the star may no longer be there or even shining (it takes 8 minutes for light to reach us from our sun!). Starlight has traveled at least four years. The photons travel in a very straight line across the vastness of space from an immeasurably small point in the heavens. When the photons reach the earth's atmosphere, they interact with electrons of any atoms or molecules or particles (dust) in the air and are slightly bent (refracted or diffused) especially if the density of air is at all irregular in its path. This spreads out the light beam making it look larger than the source and unsteady enough to twinkle. Also, the light is neither coherent (like a laser) nor strongly polarized which might make it better organized and less affected by the atmosphere.
2006-10-28 22:34:43 · answer #3 · answered by Kes 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually stars don't twinkle. It is the in between air in the atmosphere that causes the illusion of 'twinkle'.
2006-10-28 21:43:31 · answer #4 · answered by Hobby 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's because of atmospheric diffraction. In other words, the air above us is moving all of the time and the movement causes light passing through it to distort very slightly. As stars appear very small to us and their light passes through an awfull lot of air to reach our eyes the effect is easy to see - the stars flicker. A similar effect happens when you look at something at the bottom of a swimming pool. The moving water makes the object appear to wobble and sometimes disappear altogether!
2006-10-28 21:47:21 · answer #5 · answered by oakey1979 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Apart from the atmosphere thing,if they did not twinkle it would be boring to look at them and especially for the poets and lovers
2006-10-29 01:24:10 · answer #6 · answered by icecream 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
the twinkle is caused by abberatipns in the upper atmosphere. not because they spin around other planets. (its starts that twinkle, not planets)
2006-10-28 23:54:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They twinkle because the stream of light we see is inconsistent.
2006-10-28 23:42:50 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
they dont its the atomospher that causes the twinkle ie pollution
2006-10-29 05:18:29 · answer #9 · answered by porterboy 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They don't twinkle they just shine from really far away...
2006-10-29 03:10:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋