LIGHT – YEAR

When we look at the sky, we see the Past and the Present at the same time. What is this if not magic? =)

A light year is the distance traveled by light in 1 Earth year. We measure distance with it.

In 1 second, light travels 299,792 kilometers. 1 light year is about 9.4 billion kilometers.

The closest galaxy to us is Andromeda. The Andromeda – galaxy – or Andromeda – nebula (with early instruments it was seen as a nebula, hence the name) – is 2.3 million light years away, which in kilometers: 21,000,000,000,000,000,000, that is, 21 trillion kilometers from our Earth.

If you’re lucky enough to look through a telescope, you can see it. And what you see is the form it took 2.3 million light years ago.

In comparison, the Earth’s Moon is only 1.28 light-seconds away, the Sun of our Galaxy is 8.3 light-minutes away, and Mars is 12 light-minutes away. And, as another interesting fact: the Millennium Falcon travels 1.5x faster than light.

Be a Nerdy Bird!