How Long Is A Light Year In Miles
Because it includes the word year the term light year may be.
How long is a light year in miles. The light year is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and measures about 9 46 trillion kilometres 9 46 x 10 12 km or 5 88 trillion miles 5 88 x 10 12 mi. How can this be. As we established above light travels 9 460 528 000 000 km in a year. As defined by the international astronomical union iau a light year is the distance that light travels in vacuum in one julian year 365 25 days.
A light year is the distance that light can travel in a year or. One light year is about 6 trillion miles 9 trillion km. One light year is represented as ly 1000 light years is represented as kly for kilolight years 1 000 000 light years is represented. Therefore a light year is exactly 9 460 730 472 580 8 kilometers.
To obtain an idea of the size of a light year take the circumference of the earth 24 900 miles lay it out in a straight line multiply the length of the line by 7 5 the corresponding distance is one light second then place 31 6 million similar lines end to end. That is a 6 with 12 zeros behind it. Light travels at 186 000 miles per second 300 000 kilometers per second. When we use powerful telescopes to look at distant objects in space we are actually looking back in time.
A light year is the distance that light travels in one year. And a light year is 63 241 astronomical units 1 astronomical unit or au is the average distance from the earth to the sun. Since light travels at a speed of 186 000 miles per second a light year covers a total of 5 878625 trillion miles in one year. For those who use miles that s 235 139 982 502 190 miles.
Therefore a light second is 186 000 miles 300 000 kilometers. It s about 5 88 trillion miles 9 5. So we multiply that figure by 40 to give a total of 378 421 120 000 000 km. The fastest spacecraft in our history is the voyager 1 spacecraft travelling at 62 140 km h 38 000mph.
A light year is 5 878 625 373 183 6 miles. Looking back in time. Light travels at a speed of 186 000 miles. A light year is the distance light travels in one earth year.
How long would it take to get there. So to measure really long distances people use a unit called a light year. The year used by the international astronomical union is 365 25 days.