I'm trying to study Astronomy on my own time here on the internet.
On this Astronomy web page, they said that 'this galaxy' was some 17 Light Years away from our Earth.
But can someone who studies Astronomy please tell me how many Miles is 'One Light Year'
so I can see how far 17 Light Years is?
Thx.
2007-08-30 14:56:27 · 4 answers · asked by SteverZ 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
You can work it out yourself. You know that light travels about
186,000 miles per second.
There are 31,536,000 seconds in a year.
Multiply it out to find the number of miles in a light year;
the result is 5,865,696,000,000 miles, give or take
a couple of inches.
Incidentally, the closest galaxy to us is lots more than 17
light years away.
2007-08-30 15:09:49 · answer #1 · answered by Reginald 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
One Light Year is about 6 Trillion Miles.
2007-08-30 23:55:49 · answer #2 · answered by zahbudar 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Google "light year" for not only the actual distance, but the history on how it was calculated and other interesting facts.
Its about 6 trillion miles, or about 9 trillion kilometers.
2007-08-30 22:29:09 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
A light year is a little less than 6 trillion miles.
5,869,713,600,000 to be exact.
That is 186,000 * 3,600 * 24 * 365.25 (leap years account for the extra quarter day per year)
2007-08-30 21:58:48 · answer #4 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋