2007-07-20 11:54:27 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Krista, you're a jerk. People come on here to ask questions; about whatever they want, and this is not a dumb question.
2007-07-20 12:07:23 · update #1
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).
2007-07-20 11:56:36 · answer #1 · answered by ♀♥♂☮Trippy Hippie☮♂♥♀ 6 · 6⤊ 1⤋
Motions in the Air Currents cause the Twinkle.
Planets do Not Twinkle, as they have a Bigger Size (even if not as Apparently Bright) compared with a Star that is Far away.
2007-07-20 11:58:57 · answer #2 · answered by wonderland.alyson 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Stars twinkle because of turbulence in the atmosphere of the Earth. As the atmosphere churns, the light from the star is refracted in different directions. This causes the star's image to change slightly in brightness and position, hence "twinkle." Planets by the way don't twinkle so if you see a dot of light and it's not twinkling chances are it's a planet.
2007-07-20 11:59:58 · answer #3 · answered by Robert B 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
Why do stars seem to twinkle?
2015-08-20 08:40:51 · answer #4 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
THey seem to twinkle because as the air moves around it creates small local regions of higher density or lower density air. The index of refraction increases if the air is more dense and decreases if the air is less dense . The index of refraction helps determine how much light is bent when going it enters one material from anther. So as the air moves the index of refraction changes and light from a star passing through this gets bent in different directions as time (and air) moves by. The net results is that more or less light gets to your eye, so the star appears to be twinkling.
2007-07-20 12:01:27 · answer #5 · answered by nyphdinmd 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Stars twinkle because we are seeing them through our own turbulent atmosphere. They wouldn't twinkle if we were viewing them from space.
By the way, planets also twinkle, but it is not quite as obvious because their apparent disk size is bigger.
2007-07-20 15:07:23 · answer #6 · answered by N E 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Stars seem to twinkle because of our unstable atmosphere.
2007-07-21 18:25:16 · answer #7 · answered by sss08 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Twinkle sounds sooo dweebie..a ray of light that is visible throughout space. Though, the vastness of space is not all entirly equal - there are curves that light seems to bend before their effect reaches our eyes.
The lights we see are of course sparkling 'sun-like planets' that draw there attention towards us. The earths atmosphere lets light through - but we are seeing it very much like a bird sees a fish in water - at an angle and it may seem straight on - it is in fact a curved line. The apparent blinking derives from the distance that light has to travel and not all space is the same in content. Each oscillation seen by earth is perhaps millions upon millions of miles apart - as they are so far away we notice them as blinkers.
2007-07-20 12:27:52 · answer #8 · answered by upyerjumper 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It's the turbulence in our atmosphere. Since we see so little of the stars, the light that we do see is refracted in different ways due to the turbulence in our air. We perceive this refraction variance as a twinkle.
2007-07-20 11:59:53 · answer #9 · answered by stevenhendon 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
that is a good question at first it seamed hard to answer that newton for gods sake took like a year to find this out stars would appear non twinkling but because the ozone layer atmosphere absorbs radiation such has ultra Violet etc. it appears twinkling because of the missing radiation
2007-07-20 12:30:47 · answer #10 · answered by jack 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋