Why planets do not twinkle?
Asked by Sandeep Last Modified
Follow 14 
Answer 
Charlie
Stars emit light, and we know that there exists an atmosphere. There are many layers of atmosphere some are massively dense or some quite dense or rarer and also the density of air carriers and between stars and this goes on increasing and decreasing as layers have higher density and behave like a denser...
read more Stars emit light, and we know that there exists an atmosphere. There are many layers of atmosphere some are massively dense or some quite dense or rarer and also the density of air carriers and between stars and this goes on increasing and decreasing as layers have higher density and behave like a denser medium and layer having lower density behaves like a rarer medium now as from the law of refraction we know that light goes from rarer to denser medium. It bends towards normal, and when it goes from thicker to more extraordinary, it bends away from average. The same thing happens in case of stars as the light goes from rarer to denser and denser to rarer the ray of light of stars bend also. We are likely to seem that the stars are twinkling just because of REFRACTION. Planets, on the other hand, shine more uniformly because they are closer to our planet and therefore they appear not as pinpoints but as very little disks in our sky. You can see planets as discs if you observed them through a telescope whereas the stars would be seen as pinpoints. The light from the discs o planets is refracted by the earth's atmosphere as it travels to our eyes. The light that bounces of the edge of the planet's disk might be forced to go another way, light from the opposite edge of the disc bounces to another. These lights cancel each other out, and this becomes a reason as to why planets appear to shine. read less
1
Comments
Ankit Rai
The planet are closer to the earth as compared to the stars so the light receive from the planets must greater and the fluctuation caused in the amount of light due to the atmospheric reaction are negligble as a compared to the amount of a light receive from them so that our planets do not twinkle.
7
3 Comments
The earth's atmosphere is mostly turbulent and has a rapidly varying density. Thus light coming from any light source in the outer space suffers atmospheric refraction. The earth's atmospheric refraction thus causes the images of distant heavenly objects to appear to "swim", that is the image of the...
read more The earth's atmosphere is mostly turbulent and has a rapidly varying density. Thus light coming from any light source in the outer space suffers atmospheric refraction. The earth's atmospheric refraction thus causes the images of distant heavenly objects to appear to "swim", that is the image of the same point may seem to be formed at a slightly different point in the image space and this results in a visual effect of the temporary disappearing of the image (provided the image is too small to be recognized as a disk and is nearly a point image) namely "twinkling". The stars though much larger than the planets, are so distant that they appear like point objects in the night sky and thus their images suffer the twinkling effect. The planets though small are much nearer and can be resolved as disks even with binoculars and hence their images are too big to suffer twinkling. read less
6
1 Comments
planets do not usually twinkle, because they are so close to us; they appear big enough that the twinkling is not noticeable (except when the air is extremely turbulent). Stars would not appear to twinkle if we viewed them from outer space (or from a planet/moon that didn't have an atmosphere).
1
Comments
Planets do not emit light as the stars do, the planet's atmosphere absorbs some amount of light and reflects the rest which makes us to see the planets and other bodies around. Moon and venus, which are visible from earth are examples. They absorb some light and reflects the rest. The stars appear to...
read more Planets do not emit light as the stars do, the planet's atmosphere absorbs some amount of light and reflects the rest which makes us to see the planets and other bodies around. Moon and venus, which are visible from earth are examples. They absorb some light and reflects the rest. The stars appear to be "twinkling" because the earth atmosphere is more denser than that of the outer space and hence the atmosphere of the earth refracts the light of the stars. The stars are so far from earth as a definite position cannot be seen. So it appears to be glittering. A similar phenomenon is sky looking blue in colour, which appears to be blue because of the colour wavelength captured by human eye. But as stars are not as vast as space and also they are far beyond (nearest star except sun which doesn't twinkle, is proxima centauri which is 10x10^13 miles.. 100,000,000,000,000 miles). read less
1
Comments
Planets are not luminous bodies, that means they can not produce light by itself like sun or other stars. planets only reflect light which is coming from stars (Where stars are luminous ).
0
Comments
Adeeb Shamsi
Planets do not emit light in contrast to stars. That is why stars twinkle but planets do not.
0
Comments
stars are twinkle why because when light rays travel from medium to medium small deviation will be present due to this twinkle will present. but planets don,t have this effect so planets do not twinkle
0
Comments
Stars twinkle because they appear as tiny pinpoints as seen from Earth, even through telescopes. Planets don’t twinkle because they are closer, and thus appear larger in our sky, as tiny disks instead of pinpoints. punch line :short path, less twinkle, long path, more twinkle
0
Comments
View 13 more Answers
Related Questions
what is meaning of transerve wave? 
A transverse wave is a moving wave that consists of oscillations occurring perpendicular (or right angled) to the direction of energy transfer. If a transverse wave is moving in the positive x-direction,...
9
Difference between Nationalisation and Privatisation?
Nationalisation and privatisation respectively describe the process by which assets and/or enterprises are transferred into public and private ownership. Nationalisation is also used to refer to the transfer...
In India the government did not impose trade liberalisation whereas America does. What is the meaning of trade liberalisation?
Trade liberalization is the removal or reduction of restrictions or barriers on the free exchange of goods between nations. This includes the removal or reduction of tariff obstacles, such as duties and...
Define sonar?
Sonar (originally an acronym for SOund Navigation And Ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, communicate with or detect objects...
Now ask question in any of the 1000+ Categories, and get Answers from Tutors and Trainers on UrbanPro.com
Ask a QuestionRelated Lessons
दीर्घ सन्धि
दीर्घ संधि सूत्र- अक: सवर्णे दीर्घः अर्थात् अक् प्रत्याहार के बाद उसका सवर्ण आये तो दोनो मिलकर दीर्घ बन जाते हैं। ह्रस्व या दीर्घ अ, इ, उ के बाद यदि ह्रस्व या दीर्घ अ, इ, उ आ जाएँ तो दोनों मिलकर दीर्घ...
Everyday Applications of Newton's First Law part 2
There are many more applications of Newton's first law of motion. Several applications are listed below. Perhaps you could think about the law of inertia and provide explanations for each application. Blood...
Building own study notes
My philosophy has always been in support of active learning by encouraging students to build their own set of study notes u. Many of my students have secured good marks by creating their own notes .I...
R
The structure of silicon dioxide, SiO2
There are three different crystal forms of silicon dioxide. The easiest one to remember and draw is based on the diamond structure. Crystalline silicon has the same structure as diamond....
learn in less time and as a fun
If you want to learn the topics in very less time and with a littlw bit of fun; make some funny lines or few stories.
Recommended Articles
Quest Academy - Institute of the month
Quest Academy is a professional Bangalore based NEET and JEE (Main + Advanced) training institute. The academy was incorporated in 2015 to cater to the needs of students, who aim to crack competitive exams by connecting with the best brains around. The institute helps students enhance their skills and capabilities through...
Read full article >
Meet Sandhya R, a B.Sc tutor from Bangalore
Sandhya is a proactive educationalist. She conducts classes for CBSE, PUC, ICSE, I.B. and IGCSE. Having a 6-year experience in teaching, she connects with her students and provides tutoring as per their understanding. She mentors her students personally and strives them to achieve their goals with ease. Being an enthusiastic...
Read full article >
Meet Mohammad Wazid, a skilled trainer for...
Mohammad Wazid is a certified professional tutor for class 11 students. He has 6 years of teaching experience which he couples with an energetic attitude and a vision of making any subject easy for the students. Over the years he has developed skills with a capability of understanding the requirements of the students. This...
Read full article >
Meet Swati, a Hindi Tutor from Bangalore
Swati is a renowned Hindi tutor with 7 years of experience in teaching. She conducts classes for various students ranging from class 6- class 12 and also BA students. Having pursued her education at Madras University where she did her Masters in Hindi, Swati knows her way around students. She believes that each student...
Read full article >
Find Class X Tuition near you
Looking for Class 10 Tuition ?
Learn from the Best Tutors on UrbanPro
Are you a Tutor or Training Institute?
Join UrbanPro Today to find students near you
