Why do stars sparkle different colours?

Two separate things going on. Stars are genuinely different colours, depending on their temperature (The hotter the bluer) and to a lesser extent their composition. There are some stars that genuinely vary their luminosity over time, but most of the sparkling or twinkling effects are due to earth's atmosphere. That's why stars closer to the horizon twinkle more, you are seeing them through more of the atmosphere. Moving air, pollution, clouds of ice crystals at high altitudes and temperature layers in the atmosphere will produce the effect you are talking about.

The light from a typical star consists of all sorts of colours. We can see that in the case of our own sun when we look at a rainbow. All the colours of the rainbow are present in sunlight, but we normally see them all together, rather spread out according to wavelength. In nature, the 'spreading out' happens when light moves between two media of different refractive indices. In the case of te rainbow, the light moves from air into water (a rain droplet), and as it does so, it ios bent slightly. Different wavelengths (different colours) are bent slightly more or less than each other, and the result is the rainbow. Much the same thing can happpen when the light from a star noves between warm and cool air. The different colours of the star's light are bent slightly differently - some towards our eyes, and some away. The result is that we see the star twinkle in different colours. The effect is greatest when there are more regions of warmer and cooler air in the atmosphere. So you are most likely to see stars twinkle like that soon after dark, after a hot sunny day. You are least likely to see it towards dawn on a still, cold morning.

Two separate things going on. Stars are genuinely different colours, depending on their temperature (The hotter the bluer) and to a lesser extent their composition. There are some stars that genuinely vary their luminosity over time, but most of the sparkling or twinkling effects are due to earth's atmosphere. That's why stars closer to the horizon twinkle more, you are seeing them through more of the atmosphere. Moving air, pollution, clouds of ice crystals at high altitudes and temperature layers in the atmosphere will produce the effect you are talking about.

All stars, like the Sun, generate light in a continuous spectrum (rainbow) which is perceived as various shades between blue and red depending on the star's temperature (red stars cool, blue stars hot). What you are seeing is called twinkling or scintillation and has nothing to do with the stars themselves. It is caused by turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere deflecting the star's light just before it reaches your eyes. Only one star, Sirius, is bright enough that its twinkling can trigger the colour receptors in our eyes, so that's the specific star you were viewing.

They sparkle because they are distorting in our atmosphere, and they are different colors because if how hot they are.

Heres where i 'shine'. (lol) Last night, also, i viewed 4 moons of jupiter, venus and the moon through my reflactor, tripod teliscope. Now, the reason some stars are different colours is because of how old old it is. A star is a huge mass of gass, producing heat and light, by the way. Our star, The Sun, is around middle-aged. Thats why it is yellowy/orange. It is isn't too warm, it isn't too cold. :D Stars emit colors of many different wavelengths, but the wavelength of light where a star's emission is concentrated is related to the star's temperature. Basically - the hotter the star, the more blue it is; the cooler the star, the more red it is. If it is flickering, as you say, and if it is red, then it could point to the fact that it is ending its life-time and will 'burn out' soon. Also, 'Rays' and 'Waves' effect the colour of the stars, however, i have only just started learning about it. Hope this helps you, and i hope for a clear sky tonight. :D

The light from a typical star consists of all sorts of colours. We can see that in the case of our own sun when we look at a rainbow. All the colours of the rainbow are present in sunlight, but we normally see them all together, rather spread out according to wavelength. In nature, the 'spreading out' happens when light moves between two media of different refractive indices. In the case of te rainbow, the light moves from air into water (a rain droplet), and as it does so, it ios bent slightly. Different wavelengths (different colours) are bent slightly more or less than each other, and the result is the rainbow. Much the same thing can happpen when the light from a star noves between warm and cool air. The different colours of the star's light are bent slightly differently - some towards our eyes, and some away. The result is that we see the star twinkle in different colours. The effect is greatest when there are more regions of warmer and cooler air in the atmosphere. So you are most likely to see stars twinkle like that soon after dark, after a hot sunny day. You are least likely to see it towards dawn on a still, cold morning.

Heres where i 'shine'. (lol) Last night, also, i viewed 4 moons of jupiter, venus and the moon through my reflactor, tripod teliscope. Now, the reason some stars are different colours is because of how old old it is. A star is a huge mass of gass, producing heat and light, by the way. Our star, The Sun, is around middle-aged. Thats why it is yellowy/orange. It is isn't too warm, it isn't too cold. :D Stars emit colors of many different wavelengths, but the wavelength of light where a star's emission is concentrated is related to the star's temperature. Basically - the hotter the star, the more blue it is; the cooler the star, the more red it is. If it is flickering, as you say, and if it is red, then it could point to the fact that it is ending its life-time and will 'burn out' soon. Also, 'Rays' and 'Waves' effect the colour of the stars, however, i have only just started learning about it. Hope this helps you, and i hope for a clear sky tonight. :D

All stars, like the Sun, generate light in a continuous spectrum (rainbow) which is perceived as various shades between blue and red depending on the star's temperature (red stars cool, blue stars hot). What you are seeing is called twinkling or scintillation and has nothing to do with the stars themselves. It is caused by turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere deflecting the star's light just before it reaches your eyes. Only one star, Sirius, is bright enough that its twinkling can trigger the colour receptors in our eyes, so that's the specific star you were viewing.