Why stars twinkle ??

I remember the night well ... big high pressure system overhead ... the atmosphere was rock solid, no motion of any kind ... I was at about 4,500 feet altitude a good 75 miles from the nearest artificial light source ... no Moon ... alas, no telescope either ...

Maybe you've heard this, and I can confirm it's true ... the Milky Way Galaxy has a slight pinkish hue ... but only on the clearest of night with the most stable of atmosphere from the top of a deserted mountain can it be seen ...
I think I saw a dark nova with the unaided eye in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that turned red just before it disappeared, it never showed up again.
 
It’s due to how light from a vacuum refracts when it enters earths atmosphere

The light photons from the star bounce around in the earth atmosphere because you have different temperature pockets all over the atmosphere at different altitudes .
The light bounces around these different density pockets and gives the illusion of the twinkle
Easy way to tell a planet from a star: the planets do not twinkle. The stars are virtually inifinitely small points of light, which allows them to twinkle from quantum effects. Planets actually have "size" in our field of view and can be described as subtending an arc angle in the sky.
 
It’s due to how light from a vacuum refracts when it enters earths atmosphere

The light photons from the star bounce around in the earth atmosphere because you have different temperature pockets all over the atmosphere at different altitudes .
The light bounces around these different density pockets and gives the illusion of the twinkle
It is the wavelength of the light. That's why planets don't twinkle (I think).
 
It’s due to how light from a vacuum refracts when it enters earths atmosphere

The light photons from the star bounce around in the earth atmosphere because you have different temperature pockets all over the atmosphere at different altitudes .
The light bounces around these different density pockets and gives the illusion of the twinkle

I thought it was because they're gay. :gay:
 
It’s due to how light from a vacuum refracts when it enters earths atmosphere

The light photons from the star bounce around in the earth atmosphere because you have different temperature pockets all over the atmosphere at different altitudes .
The light bounces around these different density pockets and gives the illusion of the twinkle
It is the wavelength of the light. That's why planets don't twinkle (I think).
Cool Leonard Cohen lyric
 

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