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A light-year, alternatively spelled light year ( ly ), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly 9,460,730,472,580.8 km, which is approximately 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a light-year is the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one Julian year (365. ...
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May 6, 2024 · A light-year is the distance light travels in one Earth year, about 6 trillion miles. Learn how we use light-years to measure the distance of objects in space and how they relate to time and space.
Dec 22, 2021 · A light-year is a measure of astronomical distance: Light travels through a vacuum at precisely 983,571,056 feet (299,792,458 meters) per second, making a light-year approximately 6 trillion miles ...
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- Jonathan Gordon,Tim Childers
Light-year is the distance light travels in one year. Light zips through interstellar space at 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) per second and 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers) per year. We use light-time to measure the vast distances of space. It’s the distance that light travels in a specific period of time.
5 days ago · A light-year is the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in one year. Learn how it is measured, how it relates to other units of distance, and what it means in astronomy and cosmology.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Apr 27, 2023 · Learn how to measure the vast distances in space using light-years, the distance light travels in a year. See how to compare light-years to miles and kilometers using the Earth-sun distance as a scale.
Learn what a light-year is, how astronomers use it to measure vast distances in space, and how light shows us the past. Find out how far away the Moon, the Sun, the nearest stars and galaxies are in light-years.
