SCINTILLATING SIRIUS: Sirius is the brightest star in the sky ?

[Bible Speaks]

SCINTILLATING SIRIUS: Sirius is the brightest star in the sky. It is also, arguably, the most colorful. 

On any given evening of northern Spring, sky watchers can behold a spray of rainbow colors emanating from the Dog Star as it sets low in the southwestern sky.

Tom Wagner of Waterloo, Iowa, has developed a beautiful way to display the star's hue. "Decades ago I discovered that by wiggling my binoculars while looking at Sirius, I could easily see the colors of the rainbow flash by in rapid succession." On April 16th he took this picture through the eyepiece:

"This is a 2 second exposure," he says.  "The colors were spectacular!"

Astronomers call this phenomenon "scintillation." Also known as "twinkling," the phenomenon is caused by thermal irregularities in Earth's atmosphere.  As packets of relatively warm and cool air drift in front of a star, the star's light is refracted. The prismatic action of these air packets produce rainbow colors--especially near the horizon where starlight must pass through many turbulent irregularities to reach the observer. 

All stars scintillate, but Sirius does so most flamboyantly because of its extreme brightness. See for yourself.  Step outside this evening after sunset and look southwest for Sirius near the feet or Orion.  The lower it gets, the more it twinkles. Enjoy the show!

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200275520#h=77