Light year: Difference between revisions
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<onlyinclude>A '''light year''' (l.y.) is a [[units|unit]] of distance, given by the distance [[radiant energy|light]] will travel in one year.</onlyinclude> The [[speed of light]] is extremely fast (in fact it is the fastest [[speed]] permitted by the laws of physics), equal to 299,792,458 [[meters per second|m/s]]. Therefore if light travels 299,792,458 meters in one second, the distance light will travel in a year is equal to 9.460730472 x 10<sup>15</sup> [[meter]]s.<ref><m>ly=299792458\frac{m}{s}\times \frac{3600s}{hr} \times \frac{24hr}{day} \times \frac{365.25days}{yr} \times 1yr = 9.460730472\times10^{15}m</m></ref> This is an incredible distance, to put into perspective: | |||
<onlyinclude>A '''light year''' (l.y.) is a [[unit]] of distance, given by the distance [[radiant energy|light]] will travel in one year.</onlyinclude> The [[speed of light]] is extremely fast (in fact it is the fastest [[speed]] permitted by the laws of physics), equal to 299,792,458 [[meters per second|m/s]]. Therefore if light travels 299,792,458 meters in one second, the distance light will travel in a year is equal to 9.460730472 x 10<sup>15</sup> [[meter]]s.<ref><m>ly=299792458\frac{m}{s}\times \frac{3600s}{hr} \times \frac{24hr}{day} \times \frac{365.25days}{yr} \times 1yr = 9.460730472\times10^{15}m</m></ref> This is an incredible distance, to put into perspective: | |||
* It is approximately 63000x the distance from the Earth to the [[Sun]], | * It is approximately 63000x the distance from the Earth to the [[Sun]], | ||
Revision as of 20:57, 27 August 2015
A light year (l.y.) is a unit of distance, given by the distance light will travel in one year. The speed of light is extremely fast (in fact it is the fastest speed permitted by the laws of physics), equal to 299,792,458 m/s. Therefore if light travels 299,792,458 meters in one second, the distance light will travel in a year is equal to 9.460730472 x 1015 meters.[1] This is an incredible distance, to put into perspective:
- It is approximately 63000x the distance from the Earth to the Sun,
- The nearest star to us, Proxima Centauri,[2] is about 4.22 l.y. away
- The center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about 26000 l.y. away[3]
- The nearest galaxy, Andromeda, is approximately 2.5 million l.y. away[4]
- The diameter of the observable universe is about 92 billion l.y.[5]
Conversions
References
- ↑
- ↑ NASA, Hubble's New Shot of Proxima Centauri, our Nearest Neighbour [Online], Available: http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubbles-new-shot-of-proxima-centauri-our-nearest-neighbor/#.VVIxNvRDuT8
- ↑ NASA, The Milky Way [Online], Available: https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/cosmic/milkyway_info.html
- ↑ Space Facts, Andromeda Facts [Online], Available: http://space-facts.com/andromeda/
- ↑ Space, How Big is the Universe? [Online], Available: http://www.space.com/24073-how-big-is-the-universe.html