Why do stars twinkle?

JSBach

Stars twinkle because light rays are distorted when they enter the atmosphere. Oct 16 00, 12:36 PM

elin

Stars are a long way away and so the pinpoint of light is fine, this gets distorted by the Earth's atmosphere. Planets, being closer to us despite not being so large have a wider point, thus the edges distort but not the central point, so planets don't twinkle. Incidentally, from space stars don't twinkle. Nov 21 00, 3:04 PM

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Why do stars twinkle and planets don't? Why do stars flicker? Why do the wavelengths of stars broaden when they move away from us? Why are the stars different colors?

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