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Distances in our Universe. The universe is so large that we must use special units of measurement. Kilometers and miles just won’t cut it. . Astronomical Unit. Distance between the Earth and the sun. Used to measure distances in our solar system. . Light Year.
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Distances in our Universe The universe is so large that we must use special units of measurement. Kilometers and miles just won’t cut it.
Astronomical Unit • Distance between the Earth and the sun. • Used to measure distances in our solar system.
Light Year • The distance that light travels in one year. • Light moves at a speed of 300,000 kilometers per second, or 186,000 miles per second. • A light year is roughly 10 trillion kilometers, or 6 trillion miles.
Parasec • Used to measure the distance of distant stars and galaxies. • One parasec is equal to 3.26 light years. • Kiloparasecs-One thousand parasecs. • Megaparasec-One million parasecs. • Gigaparasec-One billion parasecs.
Closest Objects • The closest star to Earth is the sun! • The second closest star to Earth is ProximaCentauri. • 4.2 light years away. • The closest galaxy is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, which is 42,000 light years away. • The closest large galaxy is the Andromeda Galaxy at almost 3 million light years!