My question was, how many miles is one light year and how do you measure one billion light years,please answer in technical terms.
2007-06-07 06:37:23 · 3 answers · asked by heinz l 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
One light year is 5.87849981 × 10^12 miles or 5,878,499,810,000 miles.
"Measuring" a billion light years is done mostly by estimating. According to current theory, the entire universe is expanding and like blueberries in a muffin, every thing is moving further apart. The further apart, the faster they are moving. So if we look at the spectrum of stars and galaxies we can see shifts in spectrum lines which we believe are caused by that velocity. Based on observations closer up and other tests (like cyclical star brightness) we conclude that a certain large shift means the object is a billion light years away.
2007-06-07 06:45:34 · answer #1 · answered by Mike1942f 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One light year is the distance light travels in one year. Light travels at 186,282 miles per second.
2007-06-07 06:42:38 · answer #2 · answered by b77young 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1 light year = 9,460,730,472,580.8 km.
2007-06-07 08:17:30 · answer #3 · answered by neutron 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋