A space mystery explained for curious kids!
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered why stars look like they are blinking at you? It looks like magic, but it is actually science!
Believe it or not, stars do not actually twinkle. They shine steadily just like our Sun. The reason they look like they are twinkling is because of the Earth's atmosphere (the air around our planet).
Imagine looking at a coin at the bottom of a swimming pool. Does the coin look shaky and wiggly? Yes! That is because the water is moving. The same thing happens with starlight passing through air.
Planets like Mars and Jupiter look like stars, but they don't twinkle. This is because they are much closer to Earth, so they look like tiny discs instead of tiny pinpoints.