how come we can see planets when they are so far away

Question: how come we can see planets when they are so far away
- Keywords:
  planet,
  solar system,
  space
Asked by gpap08 to Amy, Sarah, Will on 21 Jun 2012.
- Sarah Martin answered on 21 Jun 2012:
  
  Hi gpap08,
  
  great question! The answer is that we can’t actually see planets all that well. Planets don’t give off their own light, like stars do, so we rely on them to be lit up by the sun. We can see Mercury and Venus quite well, because they’re close, and Saturn and Jupiter because they’re huge! But for the others we really have to know where we’re looking and a telescope would really help!
  
  Here’s a website that tells you exactly what to look out for where tonight!
  
  http://astronomycentral.co.uk/planets-to-see-in-the-sky-tonight
  
  🙂 Sarah

Question: how come we can see planets when they are so far away