As with most young children, my 3-year-old loves the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars.
But we know that stars do not twinkle. When we look at them through the telescopes, they appear as discrete, tiny points of light.
Stars only appear to twinkle. We are viewing them through the thick layers of the earth atmosphere. As we look at them, the light given off by them has to travel through the moving layers of the turbulent earth atmosphere to reach our eyes. When this happens, the light of the stars is bent or refracted in different directions, resulting in the twinkling effect that our eyes see.
But we know that stars do not twinkle. When we look at them through the telescopes, they appear as discrete, tiny points of light.
Stars only appear to twinkle. We are viewing them through the thick layers of the earth atmosphere. As we look at them, the light given off by them has to travel through the moving layers of the turbulent earth atmosphere to reach our eyes. When this happens, the light of the stars is bent or refracted in different directions, resulting in the twinkling effect that our eyes see.
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