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Stars are spherical. They have no polygonal shape.

But when viewed from vast distances away, they are mere points, without either size or shape. The light penetrating our turbulent atmosphere causes the star's light to be shifted back and forth, causing the "twinkling" effect. If there are microscopic ice crystals suspended high in the atmosphere, this effect is exaggerated. When seen from space, the stars do not twinkle at all.

But we humans don't see the shifting; our eyes react too slowly. A "motion" picture isn't actually moving; there are 30 frames per second of different, slightly changing pictures. Our "persistence of vision" integrates these separate images into a single "moving" picture. This is how we see stars "twinkle". In trying to portray these shifting points, our minds create a the traditional "star" shape that we draw in our still pictures.

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Why do you see stars twinkling but planets do not?

the stars emitt its own light. But the planets do not have any own light. It absorbs the light from the stars like a sun. It just reflects the light. And also the stars are far away from the earth than the planets. So we can found the twinkling of stars but not the planets.


Why some stars are twinkling not others?

Stars themselves do not twinkle, what gives the appearance of twinkling , is the light passing through our atmosphere, different layers have different temperature's, this makes the light oscillate, much like in a heat haze you think the road has water on it but it doesn't.


What are stars called that wink?

Imaginary. Stars shine pretty constantly until they die, and their deaths are often spectacular. But they don't "wink". Perhaps you meant "twinkle", in which case they're just stars. The twinkling effect is caused by atmospheric disturbances, and it rather famously doesn't happen to planets, since even though you can't easily tell by eye, they aren't effectively point sources as seen from Earth. Or then again, perhaps you meant "blink", as happens with pulsars. I think that I know what this question means. The answer's "eclipsing binaries". Such binary systems (with short periods) are said to "wink", especially if one of the stars is much brighter than the other. A famous example is "Algol".


Why the stars are glittering?

Answerstars like our sun is a large heavenly body so like sun it also has its own light so its very bright but as it is very far away from the earth we just see it twinkling brightly.stars have a beautiful look email me boorox100@gmail.com for more info BYE


Why do star twinkel?

The vast majority of stars have roughly constant brightness over short periods of time. The apparent twinkling of the stars is caused by variations in the refractive index of the atmosphere, caused by natural turbulence.There are however a very important class of stars, the Cepheid Variables, which regularly vary in brightness, and which are used to measure vast astronomical distances.

Related questions

Is twinkling of stars caused by reflaction?

twinkling of stars is caused by refraction


What causes the distortion of the light from stars that mean we see them twinkling?

The twinkling of stars is caused by the light from them being distorted by the earth's atmosphere.


What effect causes twinkling of stars?

refraction


What does a string of twinkling stars mean?

Very shiny


Why overhead stars do not twinkle?

Stars are not twinkling really. It is because of the atmosphere of the earth due to which they appear twinkling. However if they are seen from above the atmosphere of earth then they appear stationary.


Is twinkling an adjective?

It is a verb form from the verb twinkle. If it is a present particle, it can be used as an adjective. Example: The twinkling stars filled the night sky. If it is a gerund , it is used as a noun. Example: He disappeared in the twinkling of an eye.


What is the definition of aglitter?

Glittering and twinkling as if you were looking at a lot of stars.


Why would a star not twinkle?

Assuming that other stars in the sky are twinkling at the time what appears to be a star (except it is not twinkling) is probably a planet.


Why do you see stars twinkling but planets do not?

the stars emitt its own light. But the planets do not have any own light. It absorbs the light from the stars like a sun. It just reflects the light. And also the stars are far away from the earth than the planets. So we can found the twinkling of stars but not the planets.


Why do stars appears in the sky?

The effects of "twinkling" is caused by the Earth's atmosphere.


Why some stars twinkle and why some do not?

The twinkling of the stars is caused by changes in temperature and pressure in our atmosphere. Therefore it is random, and not a meassure of the stars.


What is the name given to the Twinkling of stars caused by changes in the earth's atmosphere?

scintillation