How do you tell a planet from a star when looking up the sky during night?

Question

Anyone?

Answer 1

If the object is bright and not twinkling than it is most likely a planet. Also if you have multiple nights to look at it, check to see if it moves reletive to another star. If it changes it's position than it is definatly not a star.

Answer 2

If you take a picture of a portion of the sky , you cannot srighttaway say what is what. Astronomers have star catalogues, which give the position of all known stars.From almanacs, you know where a known planet would be at any given time. Experienced astronomers know their sky well.
If you see something new , you track it for a time.If it is an object in the solar system , it will have moved.

Answer 3

I agree with the first answer, planets don't 'twinkle'. Mars even has a pink shade to it that can be noticed with the naked eye.

The link in my sources section takes you to the site of Jack Horkheimer - Star Gazer. He has a 5 minute show on PBS that tells what stars and planets can be easily found in the sky for the week. On his web site, scroll down and click on 'click here for stargazer script' to read the text of this weeks show, or click beside it to watch.

Answer 4

Planets SOMETIMES twinkle if local atmospheric seeing is very turbulent. In which case the stars would be twinkling even more so.

But planets move relative to the other stars over periods of time, so even the ancients who had no telescopes readily identified them.

Answer 5

Experience.

The visible planets move daily, the stars move seasonally.

There are charts and graphs that can tell you were to look at certain times of the year and what time of night, to see the planets.

Of course, there are star charts too.

Not sure if I've answered your question?

Answer 6

Astronomers know the constellations, and they can tell which points of light belong to the usual constellation patterns and which points of light are strangers to those patterns.

Also, astronomers have a rough idea about where the planets are anyway, even before they go outside at night and look.

Answer 7

a planet is much further than a star. but on a special night where a palnet would come close to earth, you might see it on a big telescope.

Answer 8

Planets steadfastly refuse to twinkle.

(Well, Venus looks kinda glittery sometimes, but Venus is easy to spot... brightest thing near the rising or setting sun, when visible.)

Answer 9

Planets are bigger and brighter and stars always twinkle and flicker and are always smaller compared to planets.

Answer 10

Stars Flicker cuz of there distance and planets are brighter