Verified Solution Science The Human Eye and the Colourful World

Stars twinkle but planets do not. Explain this phenomenon.

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Answer

Stars twinkle due to atmospheric refraction. Stars are very distant and act as point sources of light. As light from stars passes through varying layers of the Earth's atmosphere (which has changing refractive indices due to temperature and density fluctuations), it undergoes continuous refraction, changing its apparent position and intensity, leading to twinkling. Planets, being much closer, appear as extended sources. The total light received from a planet is the sum of light from many point sources, and variations in light from different points average out, hence they do not appear to twinkle.

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