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A star at times appears bright and at times fainter. What is this effect called? State the reason for this effect.
A star sometimes appears brighter and at times fainter, this effect is called the "twinkling effect".
The reason for this effect is atmospheric refraction. Our atmosphere is made up of different layers, therefore when the light emitting from the stars travels through these layers, it gets bent in different directions making the star twinkle.
Explanation
The twinkling of stars is merely an optical illusion. In reality, stars do not twinkle, they just seem to be twinkling, because of atmospheric refraction.
Stars are visible to us through several layers of the atmosphere that vary in density and temperature, due to this turbulence in the atmosphere, the light coming from the stars undergoes refraction in a continuous manner until it reaches the Earth. Sometimes they appear brighter and sometimes they appear fainter. Thus, they seem to be twinkling.
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