The Stars That Sparkle In The Night Sky

The stars that shine and sparkle at night, they make the sky beautiful. Like any other child, I used to look at the stars in the night sky through the windows in my room and wondered what they are, how far they are, and if I will ever be able to get hold of one in my hand. Well, it is not just the case of childhood. I still love looking at them, knowing what they are, yet not knowing how far they exactly are. And now I know I can never hold any of them.

Stars are not sparkling diamonds, but they are celestial bodies that emit light on their own. But all that shine and sparkling are not stars, as there are also planets which just reflect the light from near by stars. It is just an illusion that they look like sparkling diamonds.

But reality doesn't always work well with imagination. Sometimes, when I see my little boy looking at the stars and getting excited, I see the sparkling in his beautiful eyes as well. Then I also see his imaginations and questions merging with that of mine, and once again I become that little child who just stares at the night sky on a new moon day, and wonders what those shining dots are, where they actually are and if I can ever touch one of them.

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Image.

We all know that stars are not diamonds or dots scattered there in a blackboard called the sky. So let us come to the reality for a while!

A star is a massive ball made of mainly hydrogen gas. The hydrogen content in these celestial bodies is very high and the gravitational force from with in the stars hold the hydrogen atoms together. Consequently the nuclei of the numerous atoms stick together which produces very high energy, which in turn produces so much of heat that travels from with in the stars towards outside. This heat radiates into the space which makes the stars look bright and visible for the human eyes, which look at them from the earth which is so far.

The visibility of the stars depends up on how much light they emit from the nuclear reactions and also how far they are from us. To our eyes, these stars look shining and sparkling, while in reality they are fuming inside due to numerous nuclear reactions that happen inside them.

All those stars that we can see with our eyes are those with in our galaxy known as the Milky Way. You will need to look through a telescope to see the stars that belong to other galaxies.

If you love to look at the stars closely, this telescope will be helpful to you. It is handy and you can easily carry it in your bag.

The “Starry Night” by artist Vincent Van Gogh is a vintage painting from the year 1889, and this painting is one of the well known works of Van Gogh. It is an oil painting currently in display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 1988, the previous year, he had also completed a work in oil painting named “Starry Night Over The Rhone”, which is also a famous work. You can see the painting below.

Did you know that shooting stars are actually not stars? They are actually meteors. They are the glowing, broken parts of the meteoroids ( small rocky or metallic bodies).
When meteoroids pass through the atmosphere of the earth, they catch fire due to the contact with air. Consequently they retain a bright tail behind.
The meteors that survive their journey through the earth’s atmosphere, are generally referred to as meteorites.

From ancient times itself, people used to believe that if you wish something when you see a shooting star, the wish will come true. There is no evidence to find out where this myth originated, but people still believe that the bright and moving stars like meteors known as the shooting stars, are divine and they have the power to fulfil your wish.

The image from Wikimedia Commons Image shows a painting that depicts the Leonid meteor shower in 1833.

This photo of sparkling sun over the Niagara falls was taken in the year 2008. The sun was shining brightly and sparkling throughout the Maid of the Mist journey across the Niagara falls. The falls looked extraordinarily beautiful with all the white light falling on the water falls.

Enjoy one more photo of beautiful sparkling sun from Pixabay!

It is said that the souls of those who have gone to the heaven, look up on their loved ones from the sky, in the form of stars. And when the eyes of their loved ones meet with the stars, the stars twinkle to silently communicate with their dear ones. Many times people look up on the clear sky at night, to see if their loved ones are still watching them. This may or may not be true, but this belief gives hope and strength to those who are heartbroken due to the untimely departure of their dear ones.

Astrology is an ancient science, where predictions are made based on the position of various celestial bodies including stars and planets during a particular time. This is especially calculated by astrologers based on the birth time of a person, and it is believed that if the astrologer knows his subject thoroughly and also if the exact time of birth is known, the predictions will be precise. Each person is believed to be born under the influence of certain stars and planets. Zodiac signs are assigned and birth charts are prepared based on the time and location of birth. Astrology may or may not be true, and it is completely a personal choice to believe it or not. However, the subject appears to be interesting to me.

Learn more about the spiritual aspects of astrology!

Do you have unfulfilled dreams in your heart? Do you try to imagine things that are otherwise not possible in real life? I do. One such unfulfilled dream of mine is to go to sleep slowly, looking at the open and clear night sky above me, where I can see the beautiful sky and the sparkling star clusters. The sky is like a beautiful canvas, where different colors and images are painted every second. The picture changes, the colors changes, and the sky erases them all and paint new pictures very easily. It is just like our mind, where thoughts, feelings, desires and passions can change so quickly.

The sparkling that I love the most, are not from any stars or diamonds. It is the sparkling in the eyes of my two little boys that I love the most. They both have got their father's eyes, which I always love in my life. To me, they are the most beautiful sparkling I wish to see everyday. I want to tell my children that nothing else matters more for me than their happiness, and I love them more than anything else in this world.