scintillation

American  

[sin-tl-ay-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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scintillation

The detector's PMTs operate simultaneously to capture tiny flashes of scintillation light produced when neutrinos interact inside the detector.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026

Strong scintillation can help distinguish natural cosmic signals from radio interference created by human technology.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 6, 2026

All radio signals that pass through interstellar space experience scintillation.

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

On April 16 Cockcroft and Walton nervously summoned Rutherford to the basement so he might see for himself a scintillation pattern they thought heavily suggestive of alpha particles.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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