SpaceKids

Why Do Planets Look Like Stars in the Night Sky?

Jupiter, Venus and the Moon over West Chester, PA
Skywatcher Jeff Berkes took this image of Jupiter, Venus, and the moon with a dramatic skyscape and foreground trees in West Chester, PA, Feb. 26, 2012. (Image credit: Jeff Berkes)

Stars make their own light, just like our sun (the sun is a star — the closest star to Earth). But the stars are very, very far away from our solar system so they appear to be very tiny to us, even though up close they are large.

The planets are much closer, inside our solar system. Although the planets are much smaller than the stars, planets appear to be about the same size as the stars because they are so close to us.

Planets don't produce their own light. They reflect the light of the sun in the same way our moon reflects sunlight.

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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.