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Because measuring in miles or kilometres would yield HUGE numbers !

A light year is defined as the distance light takes to travel in a calendar year. Therefore, since light travels at 186282 miles a second - this distance is 5,874,589,152,000 miles !

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14y ago

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How do you measure long distances in space?

In Light-years(how far light travels in 1 Earth year), AU(Astronomical Unit=distance between the Earth and the Sun), Parsecs( the distance from the Sun to an astronomical object which has a parallax angle of one arcsecond), or simply miles.


Why do astronomores measure in distance in space in light years rather then kilometres?

the distances in space are too large (astronomical) to use such small units as kms


How do you measure distanceis space?

light year (distance that light travels in a vacuum in one Earth year, about 5.9 trillion miles); astronomical unit (distance from Sun to Earth, about 92,955,807.3 mi); parsec (3.26 light years)


What do light years measure in astronomy?

Light years measure distance in astronomy. It is the distance that light travels in one year, which is about 9.46 trillion kilometers.


What unit do you use to measure distance in your galaxy?

light years are used as a type of measurement to calculate the distance between planets, astronomical units are used to measure how far away a planet is from earth.


What measurements are used to measure space?

(LY) Light Years and (AU) Astronomical Unit.


How are light years and astronomical units similar?

Light years and astronomical units are both units of distance.


Would it be inappropriate to measure the distance from Pluto to Earth in light-years?

Light years aren't the best, since it is only about 0.000624 light years away. Saying that the distance is 39 AU would be better. On the other hand, it's a much better unit than saying the distance is 3,229,510,630,000 fathoms.


What is used to find a planet's distance from the sun?

When exploring space, astronomers use astronomical units, (AU) to measure the distance from one object to another. Since every distance from one object in our solar system to another object in our solar system, the distance of a planet from the sun would be measured in astronomical units


What are light years and astronomical most useful?

Units such as light years and astronomical units are useful because they can be used to measure very large distances without yielding extremely large numbers.


What unit measures things in space?

Astronomical units, light years, parsecs, and astronomical units are commonly used to measure distances in space. Other units include solar radii, astronomical units, and light years to measure sizes and distances of objects in space.


Do you use meters to measure the distance between stars?

Yes, astronomers use light-years to measure the distance between stars in space. A light-year is the distance that light travels in one year, which is about 9.46 trillion kilometers or 5.88 trillion miles. This unit of measurement is more practical given the vast distances in space.