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Twinkling Stars

-- | August 10, 2012

Question: 2 years ago, I saw a star disappear and then reappear fairly close to the original spot. Do you know what this could be? — Cristian

Answer: What you were probably seeing is the affect that the Earth’s atmosphere has on how objects outside of the atmosphere appear to us here on Earth. Specifically, the Earth’s atmosphere bends and blocks the light from objects outside our atmosphere, making objects that are point sources appear to “twinkle”, or appear and disappear, dependent upon how the atmosphere is moving around and how thick it is. I suspect that this is what you were seeing.

Jeff Mangum

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