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light year

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.

light year

The distance light travels in one year, which is approximately 5.9 quadrillion miles. Abbreviated "ly," light years are used to measure distances in the universe. For example, the galaxy is presumed to be about 100 ly across. Proxima Centauri, at about 4.22 ly from the sun, is the closest star to the sun.

It's About Distance, Not Time
Because the word "year" is used, light years are often erroneously used to measure time. The phrase "I spent light years doing that" might sound triumphant, but it is like saying "I spent a million miles doing that."


light year
a unit of distance used in astronomy, equal to the distance travelled by light in one year, i.e. 9.4607 × 1012 kilometres or 0.3066 parsecs


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In an otherwise light year for professional baseball prospects in Santa Clarita, Valencia High multipurpose standout Casey Mulligan could be drafted as high the fifth round today, some believe, including coach Jared Snyder, who has minor league experience.
Some years are heavy and some years are light, and this year has been a relatively light year," said Dr.
However, I would like to point out that "A light year is 6 trillion years" is not correct.
 
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