Why Do Distant Lights Flicker at Night?

Sometimes when it’s night We want to look at the sky and watch for a long time. But meanwhile the lights keep flickering for some reason, right?

In fact, the reason for these vibrations is It lies in the journey of light through the atmosphere. But how?

Light bends as it passes through any medium.

This process is called refraction and The variability of the medium affects the degree of refraction of light. Turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere occurs due to the displacement of air layers of different temperatures and densities.

Turbulences cause light from stars to bend as it passes through the atmosphere. As a result, we make it a We perceive it as twinkling or flickering.

For example, the amount of refraction of starlight varies depending on your angle of observation.

If a star is directly overhead; its light intersects the Earth’s atmosphere at a near-perpendicular angle and this minimizes breakage. This causes starlight to shine less brightly.

However, if a star is closer to the horizon, its light has to pass through more of the atmosphere. In this situation The effect of atmospheric refraction becomes more pronounced and the star vibrates more.

So why don’t planets shine like stars?

Light from planets is also refracted in the atmosphere, but this refraction spread across the entire disk of the planet They do not shine like stars.

Again When they are close to the horizon, Sometimes you can see the planets shaking as well.

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