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| Stars look like blinking in sky because of earth air bending light. |
Why Stars Twinkle in Sky?
Have you ever look at sky in night and see stars twinkle? Sometime we say “stars is blinking,” or “stars is shining.” But why it happening? Why they not shine like sun? Why they look like they twinkle and move? In this blog, we talk about this in easy english. So everyone can understand it. Let's go slow and explain good.
⭐ What is Stars?
Stars is like big ball of fire. Very hot and bright. Like our sun. Sun is also one star, but it look big because it is near us. Other stars is very far. Too far. That’s why they look small and like little light in sky.
🌌 Why They Twinkle?
Twinkle mean — sometime they bright, sometime they not bright. Like blinking. This happen because of earth air. Yes! Our earth has air around. This air is call atmosphere. It cover whole earth like a blanket.
When light come from star and enter earth air, the light bend and move. The air not same always. Sometime hot, sometime cold. It moving always. So, light from star also shake and move. That make it look like twinkle.
✨ Air Make Star Twinkle
The air above us have many layers. Every layer have different temperature. So, when light of star pass all these layers, it get bend many times. That bending of light is call refraction.
It not bend same always. So, sometime star look bright. Then after 1 second, it look dim. Then again bright. That is twinkle. This is not star’s fault. Star shine same always. But our eyes see different because of air.
🌞 Sun Don’t Twinkle — Why?
You maybe thinking — if sun is star, why it not twinkle?
Good question!
Sun is very close to earth. So, light from sun is strong and big. It not get bend by air too much. Also, sun look like big ball in sky. So small shaking not make it twinkle. But stars is very far, and look like small dot. So small shake can change how we see.
🏙️ Why We See Twinkle Only in Night?
In day time, sun light is too strong. It make sky bright. So we not see stars. But stars always there, even in day. Just we not see because sun light is everywhere.
In night, sky is dark. So we can see stars. And we can see them twinkle because now their light is visible to us.
🔭 Do Stars Twinkle in Space?
No! This is also important. Stars don’t twinkle in space. If you go in space and look at star, it shine same always. No blinking. Because in space, there is no air. So light don’t bend.
Twinkle happen only when light come inside earth air. That is why astronaut or people in ISS (space station) see star steady. No shaking or blinking.
🔍 What About Planets?
Planets also shine in night sky. But they not twinkle like stars. Why?
Planets is also far, but not as far as stars. And they look little bigger than stars. So small bending of light not affect them. That’s why they not twinkle.
But sometime, when air is very bad or windy, even planets twinkle little bit. But mostly, stars twinkle more.
💡 Easy Example for Kids
Let’s make it more easy. Think about this:
When you see a coin under water, it look like it move or shake. Right?
Same thing happen with star light. Our air is like water. Light bend and move inside it. So star look like blinking.
🌍 Some Places Stars Twinkle More
Yes! Some places have clean sky. Some have dirty air. If sky is clean and air not move much, stars twinkle less. In village or mountain, you see stars very clear and not much twinkle.
In city, with smoke and pollution, stars twinkle more, or sometimes you not see stars at all.
📷 Can Camera See Twinkle?
Yes! If you use camera and take video of sky, you can also see twinkle in video. Some people make timelapse of stars, and twinkle look beautiful. Some stars even change color little — like red, blue, white.
That is also because of air bending different color light different way.
💫 Is Twinkle Good or Bad?
For us, it look beautiful. But for scientists or astronomers, twinkle is problem. Because they want to study star clearly. That’s why they use telescope in mountain or in space. Space telescope like Hubble, they not get problem of twinkle.
📚 Fun Fact About Stars
- There is more than 100 billion stars in Milky Way.
- The nearest star after sun is Proxima Centauri.
- Light from sun take 8 minutes to reach earth.
- Some star light take thousands of years to reach us. So we see them very late!
🔚 Conclusion
So now you know why stars twinkle in sky. It is not magic. It is science. Our air bend the light, and that make twinkle. Stars shine same always, but we see it change because of air.
Next time you go outside in night, and see stars blink — remember, it is because of earth air dancing in sky.