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light-year Definition

light·-year (-yir′)

noun

  1. 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
  2. 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.