Astronomical Converter
Convert vast distances: Light Years, Parsecs, AU, and more.
Understanding Astronomical Distances
Space is incredibly vast, and terrestrial units like meters or kilometers are often too small to be practical. Astronomers use special units to measure the immense distances between stars and galaxies.
Common Astronomical Units
- Astronomical Unit (AU): The average distance from the Earth to the Sun (approx. 149.6 million km).
- Light Year (ly): The distance that light travels in a vacuum in one Julian year (approx. 9.46 trillion km).
- Parsec (pc): The distance at which one astronomical unit subtends an angle of one arcsecond (approx. 3.26 light years).
- Light Minute: The distance light travels in one minute.
- Light Second: The distance light travels in one second (approx. 300,000 km).