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3. some of the planets much further out than earth are brighter in earth’s night sky than planets closer to earth. what could that tell us about those brighter outer planets?

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Answer:

Jupiter is extremely bright in the night sky; only the Moon and Venus are brighter (Figure below). This brightness is all the more impressive because Jupiter is quite far from the Earth — 5.20 AUs away. The outer planets are gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and ice giants Uranus and Neptune. Beyond Neptune, a newer class of smaller worlds called dwarf planets reign, including longtime favorite Pluto. Thousands more planets have been discovered beyond our solar system.

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