2006-12-08 05:51:46 · 10 answers · asked by Kayli M 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Here is a graph showing you how far a light year is in comparison to our solar system. Each red square is what was in the graph above it and so on.
http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/stardist.html
Our solar system is one one thousandth of a light year across.
2006-12-08 06:02:39 · answer #1 · answered by Sean 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe we can't take a picture of a light-year, any more than we can take a picture of the distance called "one foot". However, we can say that the distance called "one foot" is to the order of a male human adult's foot, and an "inch" is like the width of a thumb.
Unfortunately, I can't think of something that is commonly seen by most people, that measures one light-year. The closest star is a little more than 4 light-years away (and we cannot "see" its distance).
The Solar system does not help us as the furthest visible objects (the planet Uranus is barely visible by eye, Neptune in an amateur telescope) are only a few light-hours away.
The Sun is (approximately) 500 light-seconds away. A return trip measures 1000 light-seconds.
There are (approximately) 31, 557,000 seconds in an average year. Therefore, one light year is equivalent to 31,557 return trips to the Sun.
2006-12-08 14:08:34 · answer #2 · answered by Raymond 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A lightyear is a very long distance (namely the distance light travels in one year.) I doubt you will find a picture of what it looks like. That would be like asking what a mile looks like.
2006-12-08 13:57:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here's an analogy. If the Sun was a beach ball on the goal line of a football stadium, the Earth would be a pea on the forty yard line. Jupiter would be a softball on the seventy yard line. Saturn would be a baseball on a paper plate on the opposite goal line. Pluto would be a grain of sand out somewhere in the parking lots.
The nearest star would be about 500 miles away. So, one light year would be about 125 miles, on this scale.
8 DEC 06, 1926 hrs, GMT.
2006-12-08 14:22:22 · answer #4 · answered by cdf-rom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A lightyear is a distance. This is like asking what a meter looks like, or what a foot looks like.
The distance is how far light will travel in one year, ie,very far.
Here is an image scaled on the order of lightyears:
www.wordwizz.com/pages/10exp16.htm
2006-12-08 13:57:36 · answer #5 · answered by omnigoddess_althena 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a distance. What does a metre or a foot look like? It cannot be shown, one can only be shown something that is that long.
A light year is 1/4.3 times the distance to the nearest star to our solar system (Alpha Centauri). It is about 1/2000000 time the distance to M31 Andromeda Galaxy.
Can't really show you a picture of the distance.
2006-12-08 13:56:24 · answer #6 · answered by Vincent G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A light year is a distance measurement like feet or miles. One light year is 5,878,504,662,190.31854 miles. You can't take a picture of a light year any more than you could take a picture of an inch, foot, meter, or mile.
2006-12-08 13:57:02 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
a light year represents the time (years) light needs to get from the point it is generated for to us...how do you want to get a picture of that?
you would have to be close to the origin of the light and even then....
how do you take a picture of a physical abstraction?
2006-12-09 04:06:54 · answer #8 · answered by Scooby 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A light year is sort of intangible since it simply represents the distance light travels in one year. Also it's a great great distance and impossible to fathom.
2006-12-08 14:16:35 · answer #9 · answered by 670000000mph 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How can a meaurement look like something? How can a distance so vast we can only imagine it be pictured?
2006-12-08 13:56:20 · answer #10 · answered by science teacher 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋