1
: a unit of length in astronomy equal to the distance that light travels in one year in a vacuum or about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers)
2
: an extremely large measure of comparison (as of distance, time, or quality)
seems like light-years ago
has light-years more talent
two minutes and yet light-years away from the crowded village—
Suzanne Patterson
Suzanne Patterson
Examples of light-year in a Sentence
my sister and I are close in age, but personality-wise, there are light-years between us
Recent Examples on the Web
Over the next six years, the powerful space telescope will peer as far as ten billion light-years across the cosmos, constructing the largest 3D map of the universe to date.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2024
The spinning giant was detected in February 2020, when the Zwicky Transient Facility detected a flash of light from an object 1 billion light-years from Earth.
—Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 23 May 2024
The end of the structure, which could better be described as a claw rather than a hand, is 1.5 light-years across, NOIRLab said.
—Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 9 May 2024
Astronomers have spotted signs of an atmosphere on an exoplanet 41 light-years away from Earth—the best evidence to date for a rocky planet with an atmosphere outside our solar system, according to a statement from NASA.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 May 2024
But at 280 light-years away and practically face-to-face with its star, WASP-43b is difficult to see clearly through telescopes.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 1 May 2024
IceCube has detected neutrinos created in several places, such as the Earth’s atmosphere, the center of the Milky Way galaxy and black holes in other galaxies many light-years away.
—Doug Cowen, Discover Magazine, 27 Apr. 2024
The map, painted in infrared wavelengths, reveals new details in a stretch of our galactic home 500 light-years wide.
—Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Some 3,800 light-years away from Earth, in the Southern Hemisphere constellation Norma, lies a massive cloud of gas and dust.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2024
Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2024
The spinning giant was detected in February 2020, when the Zwicky Transient Facility detected a flash of light from an object 1 billion light-years from Earth.
—Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 23 May 2024
The end of the structure, which could better be described as a claw rather than a hand, is 1.5 light-years across, NOIRLab said.
—Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 9 May 2024
Astronomers have spotted signs of an atmosphere on an exoplanet 41 light-years away from Earth—the best evidence to date for a rocky planet with an atmosphere outside our solar system, according to a statement from NASA.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 May 2024
But at 280 light-years away and practically face-to-face with its star, WASP-43b is difficult to see clearly through telescopes.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 1 May 2024
IceCube has detected neutrinos created in several places, such as the Earth’s atmosphere, the center of the Milky Way galaxy and black holes in other galaxies many light-years away.
—Doug Cowen, Discover Magazine, 27 Apr. 2024
The map, painted in infrared wavelengths, reveals new details in a stretch of our galactic home 500 light-years wide.
—Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Some 3,800 light-years away from Earth, in the Southern Hemisphere constellation Norma, lies a massive cloud of gas and dust.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'light-year.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Light-year.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/light-year. Accessed 6 Jun. 2024.
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