What is the phenomenon responsible for the twinkling of stars at night?

💡 Solution & Explanation

The twinkling of stars, scientifically known as stellar scintillation, occurs because starlight passing through successive layers of the Earth's atmosphere with varying temperature and density undergoes continuous refraction. Phenomena like total internal reflection govern optical fiber operations and mirage formations rather than stellar twinkling. A related optical phenomenon worth remembering is that planets do not appear to twinkle because their larger apparent size averages out these atmospheric fluctuations.