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Why the Stars twinkle but not earth

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Stars twinkle because of turbulence in the atmosphere of the Earth.

The light from the star is refracted in different directions because of the variable refractive index. This seems to us like the position of stars to be changed slightly and also brightness and position, Hence, the twinkling of stars happens. 

Planets do not twinkle the way stars do, the reason is that stars are so far away that they appear to be a point source of light on the sky, while planets have finite size and the size of a planet "averages out" the turbulent effects of the atmosphere.

Therefore, we see a relatively stable image to the eye. Hence, twinkling is not observed in planets.

Posted by

Safeer PP

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