INSIGHT UPSC QUIZ

GS Geography Physical Geography of World
Q.

Stars twinkle but planets do not twinkle because:

Explanation:

ANS. (D) 
Stars twinkle because they are point light sources. Passing through the atmosphere, the small beam of light constantly shifts by bouncing off particles in the air. The much closer planets appear instead as tiny disks in the sky. Their apparent sizes are usually larger than the pockets of air that would distort their light, so the effects of scintillation are negligible. Being closer, planets appear as discs, with the shifting of light from one side cancelling out the other.

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