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
Recent Examples on the Web
Putting down a mere 10% would set a buyer back $100,000, which is light-years away from what an average American has in savings.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2024
However, the recent team managed to catch a supernova in the act, just 22 million light-years from Earth (which is not so far as far as galaxies are concerned).
—Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
Magnetic Fields The new image—published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters—shows a magnetic field structure very similar to that of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, a supergiant elliptical galaxy around 54 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
The Swift Go 14 proved much brighter, and the Acer, Asus, and HP were light-years ahead in color coverage.
—PCMAG, 27 Mar. 2024
Located around 27,000 light-years from Earth, Sagittarius A* has the mass of 4.3 million suns.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2024
The same research collaboration captured the first direct visual evidence of Sagittarius A* in 2022, and the team has also studied the M87 galaxy, which is around 53 million light-years from Earth.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024
What turned out to be hard for Venus will only be harder for exoplanets many light-years away.
—Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 19 Mar. 2024
The star system, located 3,000 light-years from Earth and typically too dim to be seen with the naked eye, is expected to reach a level of brightness similar to that of Polaris, or the North Star.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 19 Mar. 2024
Sydney Lake, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2024
However, the recent team managed to catch a supernova in the act, just 22 million light-years from Earth (which is not so far as far as galaxies are concerned).
—Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
Magnetic Fields The new image—published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters—shows a magnetic field structure very similar to that of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, a supergiant elliptical galaxy around 54 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
The Swift Go 14 proved much brighter, and the Acer, Asus, and HP were light-years ahead in color coverage.
—PCMAG, 27 Mar. 2024
Located around 27,000 light-years from Earth, Sagittarius A* has the mass of 4.3 million suns.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2024
The same research collaboration captured the first direct visual evidence of Sagittarius A* in 2022, and the team has also studied the M87 galaxy, which is around 53 million light-years from Earth.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024
What turned out to be hard for Venus will only be harder for exoplanets many light-years away.
—Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 19 Mar. 2024
The star system, located 3,000 light-years from Earth and typically too dim to be seen with the naked eye, is expected to reach a level of brightness similar to that of Polaris, or the North Star.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 19 Mar. 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 16 Apr. 2024.
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