do planets give off their own light? If not, how are they visible?

Answer 1

SCIENCE > FINDING PLANETS

Multiple methods help track elusive quarry




4 Ways to Find a Planet



The first planets to be found around nearby stars have never been seen. Instead, astronomers have discovered them indirectly, inferring the existence of an unseen companion through its effects on the star itself.
So far, astronomers have only turned up huge planets that probably don't harbor life. However, future missions such as Terrestrial Planet Finder and its precursors will search for direct evidence of new planets as small as Earth.

The challenges of observing extrasolar planets stem from three basic facts:

Planets don't produce any light of their own, except when young.
They are an enormous distance from us.
They are lost in the blinding glare of their parent stars.

Answer 2

Planets do in fact give off electromagnetic radiation, but their temperatures are not hot enought to give off virtually any visible light. Earth gives off radiation in the infrared, which is a longer wavelength than visible light.

Planets are visible because light from the sun is reflected off the planets surface and back to Earth, making it look like the planet is giving off it's own light.

Answer 3

Go look up albedo. It is the measure of how much of the received light a planet reflects. Venus has a high albedo because it has continuous white cloud cover. I think the moon only reflects about 30% (have to look that one up), but if it had the reflectivity (albedo) of Venus, we would have much brighter nights.

Answer 4

nicely. . , it relies upon interior the worldwide and who you ask relating to the character of gravity. the belief of "Gravity Waves" exists, working example. additionally, planets have a magnetic profile. The Earth is like sizable magnet with a North and South pole. it is the reason compasses artwork. the only undertaking is that no-one is familiar with precisely what reasons magnetic forces. in the event that they seem to be a sort of wave, then planets might emit those to boot. yet then there is warmth. that's an trouble-free, black & white answer. Planets emit warmth. image voltaic strikes the earth, and then that warmth is radiated outward interior this style of Infra pink radiation. it is no longer comparable to easily reflecting easy. think of of a rock it is heated by the solar all day, at night it continues to be heat, and that heat temperature is projected outward. --additionally, if the interior the planet is molten, like the Earth, then if, working example, there's a volcano, that warmth projects out to boot. Planets could additionally generate radio waves, counting on its makeup and the point of interest occurring interior or on its floor. --A lightning typhoon, working example, generates each and every form of electromagnetic 'noise', and that flies off into area. A gasoline planet like Jupiter, with all that gasoline moving against itself, is consistently producing static value build-united statesand lightning. it is an exceedingly noisy planet. Then, in case you communicate the organic and organic existence element. . . We human beings generate each and every form of noise which beams off into area. yet whether you are able to incorporate that relies upon on the way you define a 'planet'. Planets, do no longer, so a techniques as i comprehend, emit actually atomic count interior this style of gasses, nonetheless. The gravity is often too plenty for something like that to flee. nonetheless, meteorites have been discovered on earth which got here from Mars. --possibly, a comet struck Mars and blasted bits of rock into area, and a few of it got here right here. Cheers!

Answer 5

They simply reflect light off the sun - I think

Answer 6

no, they reflect light from the sun, just like you do

after all, you don't give off you're own light, and yet, you are visible (aren't you?)

Answer 7

sgp19 is correct.

The prime example is Jupiter. Jupiter emits more electromagnetic radiation (light) in the form of radio waves than it receives energy from the sun.

Answer 8

No, they reflect the light from the sun.

Answer 9

Sunlight reflects off them.