scintillation

American  

[sin-tl-ey-shuhn] / ˌsɪn tlˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of scintillating; sparkling.

2. a spark or flash.

3. Astronomy. the twinkling or tremulous effect of the light of the stars.

4. Meteorology. any small-scale twinkling or shimmering of objects that are viewed through the atmosphere, caused by an interception of the observer's line of view by inhomogeneities in the atmospheric refractive index.

5. Physics.

   1. a flash of light from the ionization of a phosphor struck by an energetic photon or particle.

   2. random fluctuation of the amplitude, phase, or polarization of an electromagnetic wave.

6. (on a radar display) a slight, rapid shifting of a spot of light or the image of an object about its mean position.

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scintillation British  

/ ˌsɪntɪˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of scintillating

2. a spark or flash

3. the twinkling of stars or radio sources, caused by rapid changes in the density of the earth's atmosphere, the interplanetary medium, or the interstellar medium, producing uneven refraction of starlight

4. physics a flash of light produced when a material scintillates

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Etymology

Origin of scintillation

First recorded in 1615–25, scintillation is from the Latin word scintillātiōn- (stem of scintillātiō ). See scintillate, -ion

Example Sentences

In addition, the researchers introduced a new, more reliable way to estimate how scintillation changes with radio frequency.

From Science Daily • Jan. 6, 2026

With each technological shift, the scintillation of new possibilities meets the tug of obsolescence.

From New York Times • Jun. 6, 2024

It will be the largest and most sensitive scintillation detector ever built.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 22, 2023

Then they tracked the resulting annihilation radiation at the farthest edges of their experiment, using two photomultiplier tubes, anthracene crystals and a scintillation counter as a gamma-ray detector.

From Scientific American • Mar. 16, 2023

Above the engine roar comes a loud crack, followed by a scintillation spreading underfoot, as the Packard hits a dark patch on the frozen lake.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides