Why do stars twinkle?

Why do stars twinkle?

Stars do not really twinkle, they just appear to twinkle when seen from the surface of Earth. The stars twinkle in the night sky because of the effects of our atmosphere. When starlight enters our atmosphere it is affected by winds in the atmosphere and by areas with different temperatures and densities.

On the other hand, 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."

However, there is a scientific name for the twinkling of stars called 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.

In short, stars don't actually twinkle this is just because of our thick atmosphere where turbulence occur-- [Turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime in fluid dynamics characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity] that blocks the brightness of a star. Also, because of its distance away form our planet.

That's the end for this lesson!!!

See you on the next topic :)

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbulen

cecurious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/81-the.../stars.../382-why-do-stars-twinkle-beginner

www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/twinkle.shtm

coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ask/210-Why-do-the-stars-twinkle-

Scienthetic

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