+4 votes
in Astronomy by
edited by

Your answer

Your name to display (optional):
Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.
+4 votes
by

Stars are not actually disappearing or ceasing to exist during the night. What happens is that as Earth rotates on its axis, different parts of the planet are exposed to sunlight or darkness. During the day, the side of the Earth that faces the Sun is illuminated, and the sunlight is scattered by the atmosphere, making it difficult to see individual stars. However, at night, when a particular location on Earth rotates away from the Sun, that area is no longer in direct sunlight, and the sky appears dark.

The reason we don't perceive a significant change in the position of stars during a single night is because of the vast distances between Earth and the stars. The stars are located at such enormous distances that even though the Earth moves a considerable distance in its orbit around the Sun, the change in perspective over a single night is relatively small. The stars appear fixed in the sky from our viewpoint on Earth due to their tremendous distances.

The disappearance of stars during the day is primarily due to the scattering of sunlight by the Earth's atmosphere, which overwhelms the faint light of the stars. During the night, when we are on the dark side of Earth, the atmosphere doesn't scatter sunlight in our line of sight, allowing us to see the stars more clearly.

It's important to note that while the individual stars we observe at night may seem motionless over short timeframes, they actually do move slowly over long periods due to their own motion through space. However, the vast distances involved mean that their apparent positions change very little over human timescales.

Welcome to Physicsgurus Q&A, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community.
...