Stars in the Night Sky

Stars in the Night Sky

For some people, the stars offer solidarity and tranquility. For others, their perplexity offers something a little different. For an amateur astronomer such as myself, there are so many questions to be asked as I look up at the night sky. Why do some stars twinkle? Why are some stars bright and some dull? Well today, we will try to understand the immensity of the stars in the night sky.

What do we see when we look up?

The night sky is filled with beauty. When we look up we see a wide variety of things such as planets, galaxies, and other stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy. Simply put, it is pretty difficult to see other galaxies because our sky is riddled with stars from our galaxy. There is one galaxy that sticks out in the Northern Hemisphere called M31 and in the Southern hemisphere, there are two dwarf galaxies.

Throughout the year, we can see multiple planets. While not all planets are always visible at the same time, it is amazing they are even there. On a clear night we can see Venus, which if it is not the brightest star in the sky, it is on par with the brightest star in the sky. Somewhere near Venus is a much dimmer star and that is Mars. Jupiter will creep up around midnight and last until dawn and it is the second brightest planet that dominates the sky. If you catch Saturn right before dawn and look at it through a telescope you would be in awe. Saturn is absolutely breathtaking. And as the Sun rises, you can catch Mercury as it slips behind the Sun as the morning light fills the sky.

How can you Tell the Difference Between a Star and a Planet?

I can see how confusing this can be since all the bright little lights in the sky look exactly the same. The easiest way to differentiate between a planet and a star is as simple as this.

1. A star shimmers or "twinkles" and a planet stays one constant in their luminosity (brightness)

2. Planets typically follow the same path as the Sun and the Earth's Moon, whereas stars move around in the sky, but they do not rise or set.

3. Although planets and stars both shine, the planets only shine because they are reflecting the light back from our Sun. There are stars many times bigger than our own Sun. Even though they are bigger, they are much further away from us that their light does not shine as bright.

Spiekeroog and the Milky Way over the island. Picture credit: Kai Kröger

What makes a Star Twinkle?

The atmosphere has many layers. As the light from the distant stars would pass through those layers, the light gets refracted (bent) and when picked up by our eyes, our perception is a twinkle. An interesting thing to note as well, the stars closer to the horizon twinkle more than stars higher up in the sky. This is because there is more air the light has to travel through which means more refraction of the light. As for planets, they are close enough to the Earth, that the atmosphere does not affect the light that we see.

So no matter what reason you choose to look up at the sky, just enjoy the peace and solidarity, ask questions, and learn! Stars are more than white specks in the sky!

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