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To calculate how far away stars are from Earth.
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∙ 13y ago
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When should you use light years?
Light years are used to measure distance from Earth to distant stars and planets.
What can you use light years for?
Light years are used to measure the great distances of space. One light year is about 5.86 trillion miles. This is the distance light travels in one year's time.
What unit of measure is most often used to describe distances to other stars beyond the sun?
-- "Light Year" for the closer ones -- "Parsec" for the farther ones
What unit of distance used to measure items in space?
Light years: the distance that light travels in a year.
What is used to describe distances within the solar system?
light years
What unit of measure is used to measure the distance to the stars?
light years
What scale is used to measure the universe?
it is either light years or kilometers
What is the units used to measure the distance of stars to the earth?
light years
What unit is used to measure distances beyond your solar system?
Light-Years
Unit used to measure the distance of stars?
Light years (the distance that light travels in one year) and parsecs, which is approximately equal to 3.26 light years. For very distant objects, the units of "mega-parsecs" (millions of parsecs) are sometimes used, sometimes abbreviated as "Mpc".
Why do scientists use light-year to show how far a star is from earth?
Light is the fastest thing we know...nothing is faster than light. So the distance travelled by light in 'some' time will be the greatest. And as the distances between stars etc is huge, Light Years are used as it is the distance travelled by light in a year. And nothing can travel more distance in one year. So light years are used.
What are light years used to study the distances to stars?
A light year is the distance light travels in one year. About 6 trillion miles. -- Light years are used because it would be plain crazy to use miles. It's a lot easier to comprehend it when someone says "The Centauri stars are roughly 4 light years away" as opposed to saying "The Centauri stars are about 24 trillion miles away."
