how come stars blink?
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answers:
CarolOklaNola say: You mean scintillate? Earth's s atmosphere is turbulent is why. All those pockets of air moving in different directions refract starlight in different directions. That is why stars twinkle.
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ngc7331 say: stars twinkle (blink) due to heat in our atmosphere. The light is bent and distorted as it passes through different temperatures.
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poornakumar b say: Because they are point sources of Light (their enormous distances reduced them to that), any variation in atmospheric wind densities & speeds attenuate the Light received. It results in enormous variations causing the 'blinking'. On the contrary, a planetary body is an extended object. Its different parts (pixels, you may say) suffer these randomly. But the over all Light received from the total body, smoothens out the variation to make it give steady Light. It isn't that there is no variation, but the variable factor is tiny on top of the much bigger (stronger) steady amount or value.
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poldi2 say: Stars twinkle because their light passes through our atmosphere which can be turbulent and has varying densities.
http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/sc/...
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tham153 say: effect of Earth's atmosphere, nothing to do with the stars
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duke_of_urls say: Our atmosphere wiggles their light on its way to your eyes.
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Bill-M say: Earth's atmosphere. Light from the Stars passing through the Earth' Air distorts the light waves and causes the appearance of blinking.
Out in space they don't blink.
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Pearl L say: cause god nnade thenn that way
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Nyx say: You mean twinkle?
That's Earth's atmosphere causing that.
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Guess say: So we can confuse them with airplanes
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CarolOklaNola say: You mean scintillate? Earth's s atmosphere is turbulent is why. All those pockets of air moving in different directions refract starlight in different directions. That is why stars twinkle.
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Davros say: The blinking distortion is caused by Earth's atmosphere. Turbulence in the miles of air above our heads gently refracts the incoming light from stars causing the "twinkle".
When looked at by observers in space, stars appear as crisp, steady points of light.
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