Roger Timm, age l0, of Boise, Idaho, for his question:

Why do the stars shine just at night?

One fine afternoon a man fell down a deep well. It was dry down there, but he was sure he could never climb up those steep sides. He called and called for help, but no one came. When all seemed lost, the prisoner looked up, up to the top of the well. Though it was day time, he saw the stars in the sky. Of course friends finally came and pulled him out or we would never have heard his story.

So, it seems that the stars are up there in the sky ‑ day and night. When the sun shines, it fills the whole sky with dazzling radiance. The faraway stars are outshone. Their tiny, twinkling lights are lost in the radiant glory of our sunshine.

When Old Sol sets, we are turned away from his sparkling rays. The faraway stars have the sky to themselves. They waste no time at all. Out they pop, right after the sun and his glory disappear from the sky. The man in the well was able to see the stars because the tunnel above him shut off some of the sunshine in the sky.