Do stars twinkle or am I crazy?

Question

It appears as though stars twinkle but I want to know why or why not it twinkles.

Answer 1

Stellar scintillation.

Yes they do, because we see them through moving air (Earth's atmosphere) and their light gets refracted as it passes through the atmosphere.

Answer 2

You're not crazy, haha. The stars are burning which give the effect of

Twinkling.  

Answer 3

nahh they dont your just crazy

Answer 4

Yes, they do indeed twinkle....you are not crazy

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).

Answer 5

Yes, your not crazy.  Stars twinkle because the light has to pass through the earths atmosphere.  The gases bend the light so that you cannot see the sky clearly even in perfect conditions.  Thats why Nasa builds telescopes in outerspace, beyond Earth's Atmosphere.

      ...hence, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Answer 6

Technically no they don't twinkle. However, there happens to be an atmosphere between your eye and the starlight. Depending on how much smoke, smog, dirt, etc is in the air can cause an increase in how much the incoming light is distorted causing it to appear to twinkle.  

Answer 7

Yes, they do.  Stars are very far away but very bright, which is why you can still see them despite the distances involved.  However, not a lot of photons (light particles) from these stars are reaching your eyes (that's why they're dim) and the atmosphere can easily scatter these photons - so it appears to twinkle as the atmosphere scatters random photons from what is basically a point source - it appears brighter, dimmer, on short scales.

Planets don't seem to twinkle because they don't appear as point sources - they aren't nearly as bright as stars, but a lot closer, and actual disks to the eye or small telescope, so it's a lot harder for the atmosphere to scatter enough photons for you to notice the difference.