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Why do astronomers use light-years to measure distance in space?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Astronomers use light-years (ly) to measure distances in space because space is
simply so large. Light travels very fast, so it can easily be used to measure distances
without resorting to large scientific notation numbers. Inside the solar system, they
use the astronomical unit or AU. It is The distance from the Earth to the sun or
93 million miles.
Simply put: D. The distances are too great to measure in Earth units.
For example,
1 AU = 149,598,000 kilometers = 92,955,887.6 miles
1 ly = 9.4605284 × 1012 kilometers = 5.87849981 × 1012 miles
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoBecause it is convenient. When the numbers get too big, we can't really comprehend what the number represents. A light-year is a convenient number to use when we're talking about the distances between stars within our galaxy. Another "convenient" unit to use is the "parallax-second of arc", or "parsec". A parsec is approximately 3.26 light years.
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoThe distances are too great to measure in Earth units.
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What do ostranamas measure in light year?
Never heard of ostranamas, but astronomers use light years to measure distances in space. A light year is the distance that light can travel (in a vacuum( in a year and is slightly less than 2.4 trillion kilometres.
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They can be seen in telescopes and instruments can measure their light, etc.
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What do you call people that study outer space and the solar system?
Mainly astronomers. But cosmologists and astrophysicists will also be interested in outer space.
