Why We Can See 'Distant' Galaxies But Not 'Nearby' Planets?

We can see far-off galaxies, despite how far away they are, for two main reasons: 1 – Galaxies are huge 2 – Galaxies are bright Although galaxies are really far away from our planet (and solar system), they are undeniably massive. Our Milky Way probably consists of 100 to 400 billion stars, and is about 100,000 light-years across. The closest known galaxy to Earth is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, sitting at 25,000 light-years (nearly 236,000,000,000,000,000 km!) from the sun. So, galaxies are very big, which is why we can see them from Earth. In addition to being massive, galaxies are also extremely bright, thanks to the billions upon billions of stars they contain. This is why they’re so bright and shiny, which helps us to see them in our night sky.