Question

One light year is equal to :
1. 9.46 × 10¹⁵ m
2. 9.46 × 10¹² km
3. 9.46 × 10¹⁷ cm
4. All the above

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : 9.46 × 10¹⁵ m

Light Year: 

• A light-year is a unit of distance.
• A light-year is a distance a beam of light travels in a single Earth year, or 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometres).
• One light-year is the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in one year.
• A light-year is a convenient unit of measurement of large distances.
• Generally, a light-year is used to represent astronomical distances. 
• 1 light year = 9.46 × 1015 m.

Thus, one light-year is equal to 9.46 × 1015 m.

 

Parsec (parallactic second):

• It is the largest practical unit of distance used in astronomy.
• It is defined as the distance at which an arc of the length of 1 astronomical unit subtends an angle of 1 second of arc.
• 1 parsec = 3.08 × 1016 m

Astronomical unit:

• It is defined as the mean distance of the earth from the sun.
• It is used in astronomy to measure the distance of planets.
• 1 astronomical unit = 1 AU = 1.496 × 1011 m