why do we see the planets?

Answer 1

You can see some of the planets because they are relatively close to the earth as compared to the stars you see at night. The planets are visible because sunlight is reflecting off of the planets surface.

Venus is usually the brightest because the entire planet is covered in clouds.

Other planets are visible such as Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Beyond that you will need a good telescope.

Answer 2

When it is dark outside we are looking away from the sun. The sun is effectively behind us, underground.

The sun shines around the earth and lights up the planets, just as it does on earth during the day.

That light shines out into space. That's why astronauts can see the earth from orbit...except when they go onto the night side, then they only see the lights from towns and cities.

Now a planet is quite a big thing and reflects a lot of light, so if its further from the sun than we are, we can see it easily in the night sky as long as it's on our side of the sun. If it's on the other side, the sun is up and that lights up the sky so bright we can't see them.

Venus and Mercury are closer to the sun than us. We see them the same way but because they are closer to the sun than us, they need to be right out to the side of their orbits to be far enough from the sun to see. Venus is easy. The morning or Evening star [venus] is unmissable. This is because venus is quite big and very reflective [white]. Mercury is very close to the sun and dark. It's so close to the sun, it is only visible for a couple of weeks at a time as it races round. Many people never see mercury. I'm an amateur astronomer in my 30s and have only see it a dozen times.

Answer 3

We see the planets due to the reflection of the sun off there surface. The sun is the only planet that is actually making light due to fission. This is how we see the moon.

Answer 4

The reason we see the world around us is because the sun is reflecting off of things. We see the planets 1. The sun is refelcting off of them 2. We have the technology to build machines to see them.

Answer 5

Anything that does not emit its own light is seen be reflected light - even when you look at your friends.

So, planets are no different, except that because they are so distant we only get tiny amounts of reflected light from them.

Only Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can easily be seen.

Answer 6

Light from the sun reflects off them just like it does from the moon. Only a lowly Chemistry teacher though - maybe a Physicist could tell you in more detail.

Answer 7

For the same reason that we see the moon. They reflect light from the sun.

Answer 8

Light from the sun is reflected off them.
If they were a lot further away, darker, or smaller we wouldn't see them.

Answer 9

They have a magnitude lower then 6. The ones that don't we cannot see with the naked eye.
B

Answer 10

Reflected Light. That is like asking how you see your keyboard when typing your question.

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