Why can't we see stars in the day?

At night the sky is full of twinkling stars. But in the morning they all seem to vanish! Did somebody switch them off? Not at all — they are still right there.

The stars never leave

Stars shine all the time, both day and night. They don’t take a nap when the Sun is up. The truth is, you simply can’t see them — they are hiding in plain sight.

The Sun is too bright

When the Sun rises, its light spreads out and scatters across our whole sky. That is what turns the sky bright blue. All that brightness is much, much stronger than the tiny, faint light coming from far-away stars.

It is a bit like trying to see a small candle next to a giant, glowing lamp. The lamp is so bright that the little candle’s glow gets washed out. The stars are the candles, and the Sun is the lamp!

Night brings them back

When the Sun goes down, our side of Earth turns away from it. The sky grows dark, the bright blue fades, and at last the faint starlight can shine through. That is why the same stars pop back out every single night.

Wonder fact: With a telescope, astronomers can find some bright stars even in the daytime sky — the telescope gathers their faint light so it isn’t washed out!