light-year
light-year
Definition
light·-year (-yir′)
noun
- Astron. a unit of distance equal to the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year, c. 9,460,000,000,000 km (5,880,000,000,000 mi): abbrev. lt-yr or ly
- a very great distance, amount of time, etc.: usually used in pl. light-years ahead in basic research
light-year
Usage Examples
Preposition: from
- earth: W43A is about 8,500 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Aquila, the eagle.
Converse of object
- lie: The Galaxy represents an island of 300 billion stars lying 2.2 million light-years from us.
- locate: Located 8,000 light-years from Earth, the nebula can be seen in the southern sky with the naked eye.
- seem: But the new novel seems light-years ahead of anything else I've read of his.
- reside: Markarian 205 ( Mrk 205 ) is more than 14 times farther away, residing 1 billion light-years from Earth.
Preposition: in
- diameter: The sparkling blue ring is 150,000 light-years in diameter, making it larger than our entire home galaxy, the Milky Way.
Browse dictionary entries near light-year
- light whiskey
- light-weight vehicle sales
- light verse
- light-struck
- light source
- light show
- light reaction
- light quantum
- light pollution
- light pen
- lighted
- lighten
- lighter
- lighter-than-air
- lighterage
- lightface
- lightfast
- lightguide
- lightheaded
- lighthearted
