Twinkle twinkle

[ursaMinor]

Hi,

what does it means when a star twinkles? Why does it twinkle anyway? I saw a beautiful star appearing to be twinkling and suprisingly, it was like changing its colour. I could see blue, red, green point of light flashing. Does that mean there is some activity near the star so that is causing it to behave this way? I have never seen stars twinkling with such strange colours...I wonder if there is something wrong with my eyes..

[gwenyi]

The atmospheric currents are continously changing, resulting in the light from the stars being slightly refracted when passing through the air and our eyes. Hence, causing the image 'twinkling' in our retina. The best observation nights are that stars do not twinkle, and the sky is cloudless.


Hope this helps

[fizzy123]

To add on....... Planets present as a steady point of light. Cos planets are nearer to us thus less affected by the turbulence