Question

As planets are much closer to the Earth than the stars,

• A. planets twinkle like stars.
• B. all planets are observed to have same colour.
• C. planets do not twinkle like stars.
• D. planets twinkle unlike stars.

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

Planets are much closer to us than stars. Because of their proximity to us, they don't act as a point-sized source of light. Instead, they are a collection of various point-sized sources of light and thus act as a bigger source of light. Because of the apparent bigger size of the source of light, the fluctuation in its apparent position due to refraction and scattering is negated. Due to this, planets do not twinkle.