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light-year

1 of 1noun
/ˈlaɪtˌjɪr/
Forms:light-years
1

the distance that light travels in a year (about 9.46 trillion kilometers)

  • Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth, is 4.24 light-years away.
  • The galaxy is roughly 100,000 light-years in diameter.
  • "That nebula is 1,500 light-years distant," explained the astronomer.
  • A light-year is a unit of distance, not time—despite its name.
  • The telescope captured light from a quasar billions of light-years away.
Synonyms:
light year