twinkle, twinkle, little star

i could seriously stare at the stars all night, every night. it is the most relaxing thing i can do when i am feeling emotionally unstable. or just because. i love looking up at the stars.

for as interesting as astronomy is to me, i know so little about it. i tend to think of questions when i am looking at the stars, then come inside and do my research on that particular question. i guess that is one way to learn.

my question tonight was, "why do some stars twinkle and others do not?"  tonight this was much more apparent to me than other nights.  so i did my research and this is what i found....

(for all you smarty pants out there who already know this, play along) some stars appear to twinkle because the turbulence in the atmosphere causes some of the light from the star to bend and some to travel to us directly.  So, some light gets to us directly, some gets bent on the way, and this makes the stars appear to twinkle.  additionally, i found out that stars closer to the horizon are the ones we see twinkle because there is more atmosphere between us and the star than us and the stars up ahead.  The stars up ahead appear as a steady light.

tonight i felt very fortunate for my short time outside.  the joys of raising a puppy led me to spend a few minutes outside tonight.  i was looking up in the sky, wondering about the twinkling stars near the horizon and the steady stars above me.  I just so happened to look straight up above my house and i caught a shooting star. it was absolutely amazing. what a sight. i just felt so thankful that i was able to experience that tonight.  it immediately diminished my frustrations of jax's potty training process.

the sky is so fascinating to me.  i have been asking for a telescope since this summer. one day i will get it.  the one i want is quite expensive. :/

i also know there is an astronomy club here in las vegas i would be interested in. i am just not ready to get active yet. i want to discover more on my own first.



on a separate note, i promise i am trying to be more active on my blog. i have just been enjoying life with my hubby, our kids, and our new kid, jax! i also started school again. and i am trying to become more active on yelp so i can become an elite. :)

samsam, soph, and jax laying with me in my awesome onsie <3

If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently.

-Bill Watterson