Why Stars Twinkle by Kayla Price

Big Question How do stars twinkle?

Explanation When I see stars in the night sky, they flicker. For my science project, I wanted to learn what causes starlight to do that.

Hypothesis If I shine a light through glass of water that is moving, then the light will twinkle more than if that thing was standing still.

Explanation  Learned what makes stars twinkle from research  Could not experiment on a real star  Believed I could prove what makes stars twinkle by causing the same effect other light

Facts  Refraction is light bending.  Light refracts when light goes through one thing to another.  Atmospheric scintillation is atmosphere refracting light.  Turbulence is fast moving air  Twinkle = atmospheric scintillation + turbulence

Materials You Need  1)A clear glass almost full of water  2)A cardboard shoe box  3)White paper  4)A flashlight  5)Scissors  6)A dark room

Steps  1.Cut two 2-inch [5-cm] slits about 1-inch [2.5- cm] apart on one end of the box.  2.Put the white paper at the bottom of the box. Place the glass of water at the center of the box,on top of the white paper.  3.In a dark room shine the flashlight through the two slits. Look into the box from above. You should see two straight lines going into the glass. The lines should bend as they enter the glass and again as they leave the glass. Observation: does the light leaving the glass twinkle?

Steps  4.Using a spoon or straw, stir the water in the glass to simulate turbulence. Observation: does the light leaving the glass twinkle?

Control / Variables Controls:  We made the slits out of the same thing  Same flashlight  Same box  It was dark all the time  The slits were the same size Variables:  Water (atmosphere)‏  turbulence

Observation and Data

Analysis The light only twinkled when there was both water (atmosphere) to refract it and turbulence. I know the experiment tested the hypothesis because the experiment steps did what the hypothesis asked about.

Conclusion The hypothesis atmosphere and turbulance together cause star light to twinkle is correct.

References Books Title, Author, Publisher, Publication Date Cosmos, by Giles Sparrow, Book Sales, 2006 Experiments with Light, by Rachel Lynette, Heinemann Library, 2008 The Sun and Other Stars, by Lori Meek Schuldt, World Book,Inc., 2006

References Websites Title, Publisher, URL Why Do Stars Twinkle, Starchild Question of the Month for October 2000, NASA GSFC, Why Do Stars Twinkle, Enchanted Learning,