• Question: is it true that the earths atmosphere is magnifiable as to make the stars look closer?

    Asked by lucapops to Frank, Ian, Isabel, Jared, Zena on 18 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Ian Sandal

      Ian Sandal answered on 18 Mar 2015:

      I’m not sure if it actually magnifies the stars. But the atmosphere is a number of layers of different gasses at different temperatures. As light travels through a gas it’s path will be changed, allowing it to be focused or magnified or even de magnified. So the stars will look different from earth and from space because of the atmosphere. So the atmosphere definitely changes how we see the stars and space.

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