How far is a light year in miles and kilometres?

Answer 1

1 Light Year =
9.460536 x 10^12 km *
5.878505 x 10^12 miles *
[* based on average length of Gregorian Year]
63,239.8 AU (1 AU = mean dist Earth to Sun)

Distance to Proxima Centauri = 4.2 light years.

Numbers cannot adequately describe these distances.
I tell my astronomy students that to get a grasp on interstellar distances, use this aid:

Represent the solar system as a Penny (1 cent).
The Sun is at the center, the edge is the orbit of Pluto, about 40 AU away. How far away do you have to put another penny to accurately reflect the distance to Proxima Centauri?

Answer, about 70 yards. (64m).
..and bear in mind that it just took the Cassini probe 7 years to travel to Saturn.. i.e. about 1/4 of the diameter of the penny.

Answer 2

One light year is

186,000 Miles Per Second X 60 X 60 X 24 X 365 =

5, 865, 696, 000, 000 Miles

Think of it as about 5.9 Trillion Miles. That is close enough
for most thinking.

Scientists like to use the measurement AU, which means astronomical unit. One AU is the average distance from
the Earth to the Sun, or 93,000,000 miles.

And, one Light Year is 63,240 AU.

Answer 3

So to measure really long distances, people use a unit called a light year. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second (300,000 kilometers per second). Therefore, a light second is 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers). A light year is the distance that light can travel in a year, or:

186,000 miles/second * 60 seconds/minute * 60 minutes/hour * 24 hours/day * 365 days/year = 5,865,696,000,000 miles/year

"A light year is 5,865,696,000,000 miles (9,460,800,000,000 kilometers)."

See Website Below for more detail

Answer 4

A hell of a long way.

It travels 186,000 miles every second. So times that by 60, then 60 again, then by 24 then by 365 and that's how far it would travel in one year.

I'd do it for you but I don't have a calculator handy.

Answer 5

Light travels at 186,000 miles per seconds. 60 seconds to the minute etc....you do the maths.

xxR

Answer 6

5 878 625 373 183.608 statute miles
or
9 460 730 472 580.8 km
Hope this helps.

Answer 7

A light yr = 9.461 pm or about 9461 000 000 000 000 meters. Baffling is`nt it. You don`t measure light yrs in Km or miles.

Answer 8

Alight year is 9,460,700,000,000 kilometers which equates to 5,878,878,980,000 statue miles..... approximately give or take an inch!!

Answer 9

9,460,730,472,580.8kms or 5,879,000,000,000 miles

Answer 10

9,460,730,472,580.8 km
5,879,000,000,000 statute miles