Why do stars twinkle?

Stars twinkle due to the Earth's atmosphere refracting and scattering the light they emit.

When we look up at the night sky, we see stars twinkling and shimmering in the darkness. This is caused by the Earth's atmosphere, which refracts and scatters the light emitted by the stars. As the light passes through the atmosphere, it is bent and redirected in different directions, causing the star's light to appear to dance and flicker.

The atmosphere is not uniform, and it contains pockets of air with different temperatures and densities. These pockets of air act like lenses, bending the light at different angles and causing the star's light to appear to move around. This is why stars appear to twinkle more when they are closer to the horizon, as their light has to pass through more of the Earth's atmosphere.

The twinkling of stars can also be affected by other factors, such as clouds, dust, and pollution in the atmosphere. These can all scatter the light and cause it to appear to shimmer and dance even more.

Overall, the twinkling of stars is a beautiful and mesmerising phenomenon that is caused by the Earth's atmosphere refracting and scattering the light emitted by these distant celestial objects.