State whether the following statement is true or false :
The planets twinkle at night due to atmospheric refraction of light.

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Solution

false.

Planets are much closer to the earth compared to stars and thus can be considered as extended sources. If we consider a planet as a collection of a large number of point sources of light the total variation in the amount of light entering our eye from all the independent point sources will average out to zero and hence the twinkling effect is cancelled.

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Similar questions

(a) What is atmospheric refraction ? What causes atmospheric refraction ?
(b) Why do stars twinkle on a clear night ?
(c) Explain why, the planets do not twinkle at night.

Q. State whether True or False, and correct the statements if false:

The distance of the planets and stars from Earth is measured in Light years.

Q. Statement I: Stars twinkle, while planets shine steadily.
Statement II: The refractive index of the atmosphere is different at different altitudes.

Q. Question 10 (i)

State whether the following statement is ‘True’ or ‘False’.

The planet nearest to us is Jupiter.

Q. The atmospheric refraction of light causes the twinkling of :
(a) planets only (b) stars only
(c) planets and stars (d) stars and satellites

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State whether the following statement is true or false : The planets twinkle at night due to atmospheric refraction of light.

State whether the following statement is true or false :
The planets twinkle at night due to atmospheric refraction of light.