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Why we can see some planets but not others

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Stars and galaxies in space
Why we can see some planets but not others

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  5–6


Why is it that we can't always see the planets?

In this planetarium demonstration, the air has been sucked out of the sky to give us a black sky so we can actually see the planets that are above us.

How does our proximity to the sun affect how visible a planet is to us?


Acknowledgements

With thanks to Sydney Observatory.


Production Date: 2016


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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