When the night sky is clear, one can observe plenty of tiny dots, and some of them are stars while others are planets. These are major observational distinguishing features of planets and stars: Twinkling Stars are constantly twinkling and shimmering while planets do not. Observed through a telescope, stars appear to shake around the edges. Brightness Planets are typically brighter than stars. The reason for differing brightness is because planets reflect the light of the sun, which is close to our planet, while the stars emit their own light. Shape Stars appear as a dot while planets appear spherical. Generally,