X1-026 (2004/09/13)

Why do stars twinkle?

The twinkling of stars is investigated. This phenomenon is caused by the fact that the coherence length of the stars' lights, is largder than the characteristic length of the inhomogenities of the atmosphere. The coherence length is determined in terms of the angular size of the body and the wavelength of the radiation emitted from it.

full text                                        back to X1