Explain why the planets do not twinkle.


Planets don't twinkle:
Stars twinkle but planets do not twinkle. The twinkling of stars is merely an optical illusion. In reality, stars do not twinkle, they just seem to be twinkling, because of atmospheric refraction.

Reasons for not twinkling of planets:
Below are some reasons that explain why planets do not twinkle while stars twinkle. 
  • The planets appear to be big to us as they are much nearer to the earth as compared to the stars.
  • The continuously changing atmosphere cannot cause many deviations in the light coming from the planets. Thus, the brightness of the planets remains the same, due to which they do not appear to twinkle at night.
  • The planets don't look like just a point in the sky, they appear as a small disc of light whereas the stars appear as a dot.
  • The very small angular displacement in their image due to the variable wind index causes them to twinkle.
  • The planets show stability in their image and they do not twinkle.

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Updated on: 10-Oct-2022

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