why does stars glitters having five cones only

hi all

this seems to be a very silly question. can anyone please tell me when
we look at stars at night(of course) why does it glitters having five
cones.
infact it can have six or four or say any number of cones. of course i
know that it glitters due to the atmosphere but why does it glitters
as it is shown.

hope you all understand my question and help me in clearing out my
this query.

bye all and have a very happy new year

rajeev kumar(india)

"Rajeev Kumar" wrote in message
om...
hi all

this seems to be a very silly question. can anyone please tell me when
we look at stars at night(of course) why does it glitters having five
cones.
infact it can have six or four or say any number of cones. of course i
know that it glitters due to the atmosphere but why does it glitters
as it is shown.

hope you all understand my question and help me in clearing out my
this query.

bye all and have a very happy new year


I think if you are seeing stars like the stars on an American flag the cause
is in your eye. To me (and, I suspect, many if not most others) stars at
night appear as pinpoints of light, not as geometric figures. The brighter
stars and planets (Venus, Jupiter, Sirius) may appear as small dots rather
than pinpoints, but still a far cry from pretty five (or six or four)
pointed objects.

"Rajeev Kumar" wrote in message
om...
hi all

this seems to be a very silly question. can anyone please tell me when
we look at stars at night(of course) why does it glitters having five
cones.
infact it can have six or four or say any number of cones. of course i
know that it glitters due to the atmosphere but why does it glitters
as it is shown.

hope you all understand my question and help me in clearing out my
this query.

bye all and have a very happy new year


I think if you are seeing stars like the stars on an American flag the cause
is in your eye. To me (and, I suspect, many if not most others) stars at
night appear as pinpoints of light, not as geometric figures. The brighter
stars and planets (Venus, Jupiter, Sirius) may appear as small dots rather
than pinpoints, but still a far cry from pretty five (or six or four)
pointed objects.

"Rajeev Kumar" wrote in message
om...
hi all

this seems to be a very silly question. can anyone please tell me when
we look at stars at night(of course) why does it glitters having five
cones.
infact it can have six or four or say any number of cones. of course i
know that it glitters due to the atmosphere but why does it glitters
as it is shown.

hope you all understand my question and help me in clearing out my
this query.

bye all and have a very happy new year


I think if you are seeing stars like the stars on an American flag the cause
is in your eye. To me (and, I suspect, many if not most others) stars at
night appear as pinpoints of light, not as geometric figures. The brighter
stars and planets (Venus, Jupiter, Sirius) may appear as small dots rather
than pinpoints, but still a far cry from pretty five (or six or four)
pointed objects.

This turned out to be a very interesting topic for me because I recently
purchase a new Orion Mak-Cas and was wondering why some of the very bright
stars wouldn't focus to a point, whereas the dimmer stars would. After
reading these explanations, I'll have to go out and take another look.
One would expect each eye to "see" a little differently.

Albert

Ioannis ) wrote:

: It's quite subjective and depends on many factors, such as whether the
: observer suffers from astigmatism, whether the iris is fully dilated, etc
: among others.

: With man made optical devices, the number of spikes is exactly equal to the
: number of cusps on the mechanical iris diaphragm. So, a camera lens that has
: a mechanical iris with 5 laminas interlocking, will show 5 spikes when the
: iris becomes minimal.

: With the eye, the situation is more complicated. Sufferers of slight
: astigatism will see spikes depending on the spherical aberrations of the
: cornea. Non-astigmatic observers will usually see 5 or 6 spikes, placed
: symmetrically around when the iris is fully dilated. In this case the spikes
: are an artifact of some slight spherical aberration of the eye lens which
: comes into play when the iris is fully dilated.

: I see 6 spikes resembling two interlocking mercedes logos on the brightest
: celestial objects.

: There may also be momentary spikes caused by air turbulence.

: Happy observing.

: bye all and have a very happy new year
:
: rajeev kumar(india)
: --
: Ioannis Galidakis
: http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/jgal/
: ------------------------------------------
: Eventually, _everything_ is understandable

This turned out to be a very interesting topic for me because I recently
purchase a new Orion Mak-Cas and was wondering why some of the very bright
stars wouldn't focus to a point, whereas the dimmer stars would. After
reading these explanations, I'll have to go out and take another look.
One would expect each eye to "see" a little differently.

Albert

Ioannis ) wrote:

: It's quite subjective and depends on many factors, such as whether the
: observer suffers from astigmatism, whether the iris is fully dilated, etc
: among others.

: With man made optical devices, the number of spikes is exactly equal to the
: number of cusps on the mechanical iris diaphragm. So, a camera lens that has
: a mechanical iris with 5 laminas interlocking, will show 5 spikes when the
: iris becomes minimal.

: With the eye, the situation is more complicated. Sufferers of slight
: astigatism will see spikes depending on the spherical aberrations of the
: cornea. Non-astigmatic observers will usually see 5 or 6 spikes, placed
: symmetrically around when the iris is fully dilated. In this case the spikes
: are an artifact of some slight spherical aberration of the eye lens which
: comes into play when the iris is fully dilated.

: I see 6 spikes resembling two interlocking mercedes logos on the brightest
: celestial objects.

: There may also be momentary spikes caused by air turbulence.

: Happy observing.

: bye all and have a very happy new year
:
: rajeev kumar(india)
: --
: Ioannis Galidakis
: http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/jgal/
: ------------------------------------------
: Eventually, _everything_ is understandable

This turned out to be a very interesting topic for me because I recently
purchase a new Orion Mak-Cas and was wondering why some of the very bright
stars wouldn't focus to a point, whereas the dimmer stars would. After
reading these explanations, I'll have to go out and take another look.
One would expect each eye to "see" a little differently.

Albert

Ioannis ) wrote:

: It's quite subjective and depends on many factors, such as whether the
: observer suffers from astigmatism, whether the iris is fully dilated, etc
: among others.

: With man made optical devices, the number of spikes is exactly equal to the
: number of cusps on the mechanical iris diaphragm. So, a camera lens that has
: a mechanical iris with 5 laminas interlocking, will show 5 spikes when the
: iris becomes minimal.

: With the eye, the situation is more complicated. Sufferers of slight
: astigatism will see spikes depending on the spherical aberrations of the
: cornea. Non-astigmatic observers will usually see 5 or 6 spikes, placed
: symmetrically around when the iris is fully dilated. In this case the spikes
: are an artifact of some slight spherical aberration of the eye lens which
: comes into play when the iris is fully dilated.

: I see 6 spikes resembling two interlocking mercedes logos on the brightest
: celestial objects.

: There may also be momentary spikes caused by air turbulence.

: Happy observing.

: bye all and have a very happy new year
:
: rajeev kumar(india)
: --
: Ioannis Galidakis
: http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/jgal/
: ------------------------------------------
: Eventually, _everything_ is understandable

From your description, it sounds like what you are seeing is in your eye,
rather than the atmosphere.

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

************************************
"Rajeev Kumar" wrote in message
om...
hi all

this seems to be a very silly question. can anyone please tell me when
we look at stars at night(of course) why does it glitters having five
cones.
infact it can have six or four or say any number of cones. of course i
know that it glitters due to the atmosphere but why does it glitters
as it is shown.

hope you all understand my question and help me in clearing out my
this query.

bye all and have a very happy new year

rajeev kumar(india)

From your description, it sounds like what you are seeing is in your eye,
rather than the atmosphere.

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

************************************
"Rajeev Kumar" wrote in message
om...
hi all

this seems to be a very silly question. can anyone please tell me when
we look at stars at night(of course) why does it glitters having five
cones.
infact it can have six or four or say any number of cones. of course i
know that it glitters due to the atmosphere but why does it glitters
as it is shown.

hope you all understand my question and help me in clearing out my
this query.

bye all and have a very happy new year

rajeev kumar(india)

From your description, it sounds like what you are seeing is in your eye,
rather than the atmosphere.

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

************************************
"Rajeev Kumar" wrote in message
om...
hi all

this seems to be a very silly question. can anyone please tell me when
we look at stars at night(of course) why does it glitters having five
cones.
infact it can have six or four or say any number of cones. of course i
know that it glitters due to the atmosphere but why does it glitters
as it is shown.

hope you all understand my question and help me in clearing out my
this query.

bye all and have a very happy new year

rajeev kumar(india)