Light Year (ly) - Unit Information & Conversion

Symbol:ly
Plural:light years
Category:Length

🔄 Quick Convert Light Year

What is a Light Year?

Definition

A light-year is a unit of astronomical distance equal to the distance that light travels in one Julian year in a vacuum (approximately 9.461 trillion kilometers or 5.879 trillion miles).

History

The concept was first used by Friedrich Bessel in 1838 when measuring the distance to the star 61 Cygni.

Common Uses

  • Measuring distances to stars and galaxies
  • Expressing the vast scale of the universe in astronomy

Light Year Conversion Formulas

To Meter:

1 ly = N/A m
Example: 5 light years = N/A meters

To Kilometer:

1 ly = 9461000000000 km
Example: 5 light years = 47305000000000 kilometers

To Hectometer:

1 ly = 94610000000000 hm
Example: 5 light years = 473050000000000 hectometers

To Decimeter:

1 ly = N/A dm
Example: 5 light years = N/A decimeters

To Centimeter:

1 ly = N/A cm
Example: 5 light years = N/A centimeters

To Millimeter:

1 ly = N/A mm
Example: 5 light years = N/A millimeters

To Inch:

1 ly = N/A in
Example: 5 light years = N/A inches

To Foot:

1 ly = N/A ft
Example: 5 light years = N/A feet

To Yard:

1 ly = N/A yd
Example: 5 light years = N/A yards

To Mile:

1 ly = 5878792849757.417 mi
Example: 5 light years = 29393964248787.082 miles

To Nautical Mile:

1 ly = 5108531317494.601 NM
Example: 5 light years = 25542656587473.004 nautical miles

To Micrometer:

1 ly = N/A Ξm
Example: 5 light years = N/A micrometers

To Nanometer:

1 ly = N/A nm
Example: 5 light years = N/A nanometers

To Astronomical Unit:

1 ly = 63241.97861 AU
Example: 5 light years = 316209.893048 astronomical units

To Parsec:

1 ly = 0.306608 pc
Example: 5 light years = 1.53304 parsecs

To Angstrom:

1 ly = N/A Å
Example: 5 light years = N/A angstroms

To Point (Typography):

1 ly = N/A pt
Example: 5 light years = N/A points

To Mil/Thou:

1 ly = N/A mil
Example: 5 light years = N/A mils

To Fathom:

1 ly = 5173337707786527 fath
Example: 5 light years = N/A fathoms

To Furlong:

1 ly = 47030342798059.336 fur
Example: 5 light years = 235151713990296.66 furlongs

To Link (Gunter's):

1 ly = N/A li
Example: 5 light years = N/A links

To Pace:

1 ly = N/A pace
Example: 5 light years = N/A paces

To Span:

1 ly = N/A span
Example: 5 light years = N/A spans

To Digit:

1 ly = N/A digit
Example: 5 light years = N/A digits

To Cable Length:

1 ly = 51085313174946.01 cb
Example: 5 light years = 255426565874730.03 cable lengths

To Ell:

1 ly = 8277340332458443 ell
Example: 5 light years = N/A ells

To Finger:

1 ly = N/A finger
Example: 5 light years = N/A fingers

To Roman Mile:

1 ly = 6392567567567.567 m.p.
Example: 5 light years = 31962837837837.836 Roman miles

To Stadion:

1 ly = 51140540540540.54 stadion
Example: 5 light years = 255702702702702.7 stadia

To Chi (Chinese):

1 ly = N/A chi
Example: 5 light years = N/A chi

To Shaku (Japanese):

1 ly = N/A shaku
Example: 5 light years = N/A shaku

To Li (Chinese):

1 ly = 18922000000000 li
Example: 5 light years = 94610000000000 li

To Toise:

1 ly = 4854284248332478 toise
Example: 5 light years = N/A toise

To Bolt:

1 ly = 310400262467191.6 bolt
Example: 5 light years = 1552001312335958 bolts

To Rope:

1 ly = 1552001312335958 rope
Example: 5 light years = 7760006561679790 ropes

To Smoot:

1 ly = 5559407685979551 smoot
Example: 5 light years = N/A smoots

To Sajene:

1 ly = 4434289463817023 sajene
Example: 5 light years = N/A sajenes

To Ken:

1 ly = 5204070407040704 ken
Example: 5 light years = N/A ken

To Wa:

1 ly = 4730500000000000 wa
Example: 5 light years = N/A wa

To Vara:

1 ly = N/A vara
Example: 5 light years = N/A varas

To Aln:

1 ly = N/A aln
Example: 5 light years = N/A alnar

To Cubit (Royal/Egyptian):

1 ly = N/A cubit
Example: 5 light years = N/A cubits

To Versta:

1 ly = 8868578927634.045 versta
Example: 5 light years = 44342894638170.23 versts

To Arpent:

1 ly = 161806707598638.66 arpent
Example: 5 light years = 809033537993193.2 arpents

To Ri (Japanese):

1 ly = 2409218232747.6445 ri
Example: 5 light years = 12046091163738.223 ri

To Klafter:

1 ly = 4988663327181650 klafter
Example: 5 light years = N/A klafter

To Yojana:

1 ly = 700814814814.8148 yojana
Example: 5 light years = 3504074074074.074 yojanas

To Skein:

1 ly = 86222295129775.44 skein
Example: 5 light years = 431111475648877.25 skeins

Frequently Asked Questions

A light-year (ly) is a unit of distance, not time. It represents the distance light travels in one year.

Convert Light Year

Need to convert Light Year to other length units? Use our conversion tool.