does anyone know what a light year is?

Question

i would like to know how long a light year is in our number of years, and like how long does it take to get 5 billion light years away?

Answer 1

A light-year or lightyear is a unit of measurement of length, specifically the distance light travels in vacuum in one year

A light-year is equal to:

* 9,460,730,472,580.8 km (about 9.461 Pm)
* 5,879,000,000,000 statute miles
* 63,240 astronomical units
* 0.3066 parsecs

Answer 2

A light year isn't a measure of time, but of distance - the total distance light travels in one year, moving at 186,282.4 miles per second.

It's about 5,874,598,262,400 miles (that's 5.8 trillion miles.) Something seen that is 5 billion light years away means that we're seeing it as it was 5 billion years ago.

Answer 3

A light year is NOT a measure of time, despite the word "year" in it.

It is a measure of distance. It is a little less than 6 trillion miles.

Answer 4

It is the measurement of how far light can travel in one year, propagating in a vacuum

For example 1 parsec=3.26 light years

1,533,742,331 parsecs = 5,000,000,000 light years

Answer 5

If I recall correctly, light travels at the rate of 186,000 miles per second. If we multiply 186,000 miles times 60, we can see how far light travels in a minute (11,160,000 miles), and

If we multiply 11,160,000 times 60, we can see how far light travels in an hour (669,600,000 miles), and

If we multiply 669,600,000 times 24, we can see how far light travels in a day (16,070,400,000 miles), and

If we multiply 16,070,400,000 times 30, we can see how far light travels in a month (482,112,000,000 miles), and

If we multiply 482,112,000,000 times 12, we can see how far light travels in a year (5,785,344,000,000 miles).

That's
Five Trillion,
Seven hundred eighty-five billion,
Three hundred forty-four million miles,
or one light year.

Accordingly, a planet that is 5,785,344,000,000 miles distant from Earth is a distance of one light year from Earth.

As you can see, if you don't modify the speed-of-light assumption (186,000 miles per second), a light year is a measure of distance and not of time. The time it takes to travel one light year (i.e., nearly six trillion Earth miles) is one Earth year if you travel the entire distance at the speed of light.

If you reduced your speed assumption to half the speed of light, it would take two Earth years to travel a distance of one light year. Conversely, if you increased your speed assumption to twice the speed of light, it would take only six Earth months to travel a distance of one light year.

And so on. Turning now to your question, if we recall that in one Earth year we can travel nearly six trillion Earth miles if we travel at the speed of light, we can understand that the distance of nearly six trillion Earth miles equals one light year, a measure of distance and not of time.

Since we know that every light year, by definition, describes a distance of nearly six trillion Earth miles, five billion light years would by definition describe a distance five billion times as long as the distance described by one light year -- that is, a total number of miles equal to the product of six trillion times five billion.

But you asked for the time required to travel this mind-numbing distance. I believe the math is simple; all you have to do is arrive at an assumption with respect to the speed at which the distance is traveled and calculate how long it would take to travel that distance at that speed.

Answer 6

The distance light travels in one year. The speed of light is 186,282 miles per second miles per second or 299,792,458 meters per second. Thus the distance is 5,878,000,000,000 miles

Answer 7

it is the time between my last date and my next date