How many years is in a light year?

One light year is equal to the distance that light travels in one year (it is about ten trillion kilometers, or six trillion miles). One light years is equal to approx 6.5×10^5 earht s years.

How many light years away is a star?

The closest star, Proxima Centauri, is 4.24 light-years away. A light-year is 9.44 trillion km, or 5.88 trillion miles. That is an incredibly large distance.

How long does it take to go 4 light years?

Last year, astronomers raised the possibility that our nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri, has several potentially habitable exoplanets that could fit the bill. Proxima Centauri is 4.2 light-years from Earth, a distance that would take about 6,300 years to travel using current technology.

What is 50 light years away?

The star is like our sun and just 50 light-years away. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers). Most of the known extrasolar planets are hundreds or thousands of light-years distant.

How long is 4 light-years away?

A little more than four light-years away, or 24 trillion miles. If an airline offered a flight there by jet, it would take 5 million years. Not much is known about this world; its close orbit and the periodic flaring of its star lower its chances of being habitable.

How can the light of stars billions of light years away?

How can the light of stars billions of light years away from the earth have reached us if the earth is only thousands of years old? A light-year is the maximum distance that light can travel in one year in the vacuum of space. Consequently, it takes billions of years for light to travel billions of light-years through space.

What is the distance of a light-year?

For most space objects, we use light-years to describe their distance. A light-year is the distance light travels in one Earth year. One light-year is about 6 trillion miles (9 trillion km). That is a 6 with 12 zeros behind it! When we use powerful telescopes to look at distant objects in space, we are actually looking back in time.

How old is the light we see from other stars?

Aside from our own sun (remember that is a star) the closest star in our system is the Proxima Centauri. Using the above calculations, this equates to around 4 light years from Earth. Therefore, the age of the light reaching earth from this particular star is in fact around 4 years old by the time we see it!

How long does it take for light to reach Earth?

The time it takes for light to reach earth from our closest star the sun, is only around 8 minutes. In terms of translating this into light years we need to take into account a light year is quite large, in fact the distance of one light year is around 6 trillion miles which calculates to around .000016 of a light year.