scintillation: Meaning and Definition of

scin•til•la•tion

1. the act of scintillating; sparkling.
2. a spark or flash.
3. the twinkling or tremulous effect of the light of the stars.
4. 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.
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.