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Space & Spaceflight

Why Are Stars Star-Shaped?

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Our Sun is spherical, so why is it that other stars look… star-shaped in the night sky? Actually, it’s all down to the quirks of light and your (imperfect) eyes.

In this video, Minute Physics explains how a single point of light—like a star in the night sky—can be distorted as it passes through lenses and other structures. Even our eyes, which we think of as seeing the world accurately, distort the light from stars because of their biological structure. In fact, its those quirks that mean each and every one of use see the night’s stars in a subtly different way. Watch the video to find out why that’s the case. [Minute Physics]

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