Stars do not really twinkle, they just appear to twinkle when seen from Earth, because of out atmosphere. When light from the faraway stars enters the Earth’s atmosphere, its path is affected by air movement, temperature and the density of various layers in the atmosphere. This causes the light from the stars to refract multiple times before reaching us, making the stars look as if they were blinking.
The telescopes we send into space take better pictures of stars than telescopes on Earth because the telescopes in space do not have to take pictures through our disturbing atmosphere. For the telescopes on the ground, scientists use lasers and mirrors to adjust to the star’s twinkling, which creates a clearer picture of distant stars.
Stars appear to twinkle to us on Earth because our planet’s atmosphere contains wind, temperature differences, and density variation. As the light from a distant star passes through our chaotic atmosphere, the light spreads out and becomes bend. The bending and spreading of starlight as it reaches our eyes causes us to see twinkling stars.
Picture Credit : Google