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From: cramer@kontron.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: net.astro
Subject: Re: StarDate: June 11 Where the Stars Don't Twinkle
Message-ID: <326@kontron.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 3-Jul-85 19:44:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: kontron.326
Posted: Wed Jul  3 19:44:09 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 5-Jul-85 07:31:22 EDT
References: <224@utastro.UUCP> <71@denelvx.UUCP> <8487@ucbvax.ARPA>
Organization: Kontron Electronics, Irvine, CA
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> Stars twinkle because they are, for all practical purposes, point sources.
> Planets, since they are much closer to Earth, have visible disks. Since
> the light you see from a planet comes from a larger area, it is less affected
> by the atmospheric turbulence that makes the stars twinkle.
> 
> -- Jim Lewis
>    U.C. Berkeley
>    ...!ucbvax!jwl

A real trivial minor point: Mercury, I've noticed, tends to twinkle, partly
because the only times you see is at dusk, when heat disturbances are quite
pronounced, and also because it has the smallest visible disk of the
visible planets.