scintillation

Noun

scintillation (countable and uncountable, plural scintillations)

1. A flash of light; a spark.
2. The twinkling of a star or other celestial body caused by turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere.
   • Do the stars scintillate at all altitudes? Is there any altitude at which it ceases to manifest itself? At Morges the stars in general scintillate at all altitudes, although feebly near the zenith; but on the nights when the scintillation is very faint, it ceases completely at a zenith distance of...1857 December 11, Charles Dufour, “Notes on the Scintillation of the Stars. By Professor Dufour. (Extracts of Letters to Professor Piazzi Smyth.)”, in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical...
   • It is generally believed that the planets do not scintillate at all, or scarcely at all. Nevertheless I have often observed a sensible scintillation of Venus and Mars, and in a few rare cases I have also observed a slight scintillation of Jupiter and Saturn. […] I would therefore call the attention...1860 March, Charles Dufour, “XXIX. Instructions for the Better Observation of the Scintillation of the Stars. By Charles Dufour, Professor of Mathematics at Morges.”, in The London, Edinburgh, and...
3. (nuclear physics) The flash of light produced by something (especially a phosphor) when it absorbs ionizing radiation.
4. (figuratively) A brief expression that is amusing or clever; witticism.
   • […]here and there were Latin inscriptions—obscene scintillations of wit[…]1869, Mark Twain, chapter XXXI, in The Innocents Abroad, page 333