The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1909-12-16
Their Color Serves 40 an Index
10 Their Age.
WHAT MAKES THEM 1wIWKLe7

. steady light. That 10 the wsy We
tell Q star from . planet With the
esksd eye.
But Why DOES the star twinkle at ell!
The answer 10 this seems 10 be 90 &C.
souut Of the greater distances Of the
starr. the nearest nxed star beins sev.
ssul thouaapd times TAI ,ber from 10
than tbs fsrthest planet 10 around
this - . starting point bsvs been built
two theories. One y that % The
visual angle. os angle subtended By
the stsr from The eye. b 20 very small
thst very small bodies 10 spsce con-
ins bsswceu the star and the eye
would give the eject Of twiptlins.
Nov. % rssards those small bodies
actually being In space - hyposbecat.
"a sbssp u 90 doubt fos there srs mil.
lions Of fragments 0f disrupted worlds
dying around 10 orbits sbout our Sun.
Tue ouly question b whether there are
enough 10 cause the eternal twiukiins
Shst u observed. erience csppot ~
that enough do not esist. foe shs cen.
not pseceivs the existeocs Of The smail.
est fragments that actually couid cause
this effect. even With bsr ouess inssru.
meutAI
To illustrate. then. ny meaning -
regards this covering Of the visual
angle. suppose you take . dime BE-.
tween your thumb aod nnges and bold
Il between your eye end the moon uo.
III u Just covers the spoou. u Will b.
found TO BE- quite close 10 the eye. Nov
take Q quarter and bold n % that u
lust covers the moou. lts distance u
q oucr sesu 20 BE- shout four times the
dimes from The eye. THUS u y SEQ
that The farther outward the ob)ect v
placed the lsrses the object necesssry.
THIS 10 In sccoed With what u Known
% the Law Of inverse sQusres.
But now take Q dime OF even Q pio
heed, spd 20 matter bow far you bold
Il from the eye II wiii easily cover The
lsrerss star 10 the hesvens. THIS b
% accouut Of the enoswous distsocs Of
The star. The iioes dr1Wn from IL sSdss
to the eye ipclosins 90 angie % minute
that almost spythius will Oh H. 70
thus we see that this thsosy y not I'm.
possible. tboosh perhaps somewhat im'
probable.
TIE other theory basss - argument
ou the air currents. Az cusreuss are
caused By light and bsated als rising
spd cold end hsavy sis taking 10 place.
Now. wheu light soes from . heavy
TO Q light gas. OF vice versa. u b beut
one wsy or the other. 10 this would
certainly happen to the light from oil
The besvsuly todies. The rsasou Il y
not posiced In the case Of the planets
or the sun 10 that they send % many
more rays % compared TO the stsrs.
Many ressoos are put forward to
show the truth Of this theory. A star
tviuk,es more on the horts0u than u
does In the seuith. foe IT. light has %
come through Q greater thIcsuess Of
atmosphere: also greater twiukllng u
observed In winter than In summer
aud when rapid and brilliant twlnkiinl
b srsn Il 10 . vsry good prophecy ol
rain OF snow. % u shows the upper ~
sious Of the cir to b 10 Q STATE o1
ppId motion OF varying aif cusreuts
bot aud cold cuvrents meeting. CON
mlnsiins aud rotating psObably.
THIS slso accounts for the changes
In The brightness of star. for q ume'
part aud not on oe 10 light V ben
away from the eys II has beeu 10
ticed also that Q stars color has some
thing 20 do With IL twlukling On &C
count OF The didersut rsfesctivktss o
IN. Al0eesut coLIea A white OF bou(