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parsec Definition

par·sec (pär′sek′)

noun

a unit of distance, usually used to measure the distance to a star, equal to 206,265 astronomical units (3.0857 x 10 kilometers or 1.92 x 10 miles or 3.2616 light years): it is the distance at which an angle of 0° 0′ 1″ (one second of arc) would form a triangle having an opposite side with a length of one astronomical unit: abbrev. pc

Etymology: par(allax) + sec(ond)

parsec Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • few: The expected detection of the central " odd " image will tell us about the mass profiles of galaxies in their central few parsecs.
  • cubic: In the dense center of the cluster, the star density can increase from 100 to 1000 per cubic parsec.
  • central: The expected detection of the central " odd " image will tell us about the mass profiles of galaxies in their central few parsecs.

Browse dictionary entries near parsec

  1. ‹ parse
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  6. ‹ Parrish
  7. ‹ Parrington
  8. ‹ parricide
  9. ‹ parrel
  10. ‹ parramatta
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