• Question: If it only appears to us that stars are twinkling because of the distance and the atmosphere how come planets don't appear to be twinkling?

    Asked by owlie to Frank, Leila on 22 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by rawrimjo.
    • Photo: Leila Nichol

      Leila Nichol answered on 22 Mar 2013:

      They do! Have you seen a planet in the night sky? They look just like bright stars when the planets are aligned to enable you to see them. And actually what we see as twinkling and shooting stars is normally mainly do to the physics of our eye! When we see this phenomenon, we are using the rods in the periphery of our retina. When you try and focus on these using the central cones in your eye, you lose the twinkling/shooting appearance of the stars because cones and rods in your eyes have different visual properties. You should look it up, it’s very interesting!

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