Quote:
Originally Posted by BilliGoatsGruff
Being in a rural area, the theory of planets not twinkling holds true. I guess it has a lot to do with the amount of air pollution in Melbourne, as opposed to the Riverland. It it wasn't for that, then I would probably still be trying to find Saturn  |
It's actually nothing to do with being in a rural area, but rather the steadiness of the atmosphere. The atmosphere is made up of multiple layers of air moving in different directions, speeds and are different temperatures. The local conditions affect seeing aswell, i.e. downwind of a structure or natural features such as hills or trees, which disturb the airflow. When these layers interact, seeing becomes poor to varying degrees, sometimes the turbulence is bad enough that the planets do twinkle. It is a very subtle effect however, nowhere near as obvious as stellar twinkling.