Twinkling stars are celestial bodies that appear to flicker or change brightness when observed from Earth. This phenomenon occurs due to the Earth's atmosphere, which causes light from the stars to bend and scatter as it passes through different layers of air. The varying temperatures and densities in the atmosphere create turbulence, leading to the twinkling effect. The scientific term for this twinkling is stellar scintillation. Stars that are closer to the horizon often appear to twinkle more than those overhead because their light travels through a thicker layer of the atmosphere. This effect is more pronounced on nights with unstable atmospheric conditions.