Question

Why do the planets not twinkle?

Answer 1

Hint
Think of it as what is the basic concept of why planets and stars are different and what actually makes the twinkling effect in stars. Atmospheric shift plays a major role in the twinkling effect, comparing the size of planets and stars.

Complete step by step answer
As we told in the hint, we will approach the solution of this question as the main difference between planets and stars, and what makes stars twinkle while planets do not twinkle.
There can be multiple reasons behind planets not twinkling, but some of the major ones that are known to us are:
1. Planets are not self-luminous, on the other hand, stars are self-luminous. It means that planets do not produce their own light, while stars produce their own light. Planets only reflect low intensity light that reaches to them, maybe through another star in space. This makes the light of intensity a bit lower and it might not be seen as proficient as to produce the twinkling effect.
2. Planets are closer to Earth as compared to stars. This causes the light rays coming from planets to travel less as compared to the light rays coming from stars. Hence, light rays coming from planets experience less shift due to atmospheric refraction as compared to the light rays coming from stars.
3. Since the planets are closer to Earth, they appear bigger than stars to us. Therefore, the shift is not enough to generate the twinkling effect.

Note
Some may differ with the thought of planets which are small and far from us, like the pseudo-planet, Pluto. It does not appear as twinkling because although it is far and small, it does not produce its own light and only reflects the low intensity light, which is not enough to create the twinkling effect.