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
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
This stellar nursery is about 450 light-years away from Earth.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 11 Apr. 2024
Something set off some unique gravitational waves from 650 million light-years away.
—Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 8 Apr. 2024
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
This stellar nursery is about 450 light-years away from Earth.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 11 Apr. 2024
Something set off some unique gravitational waves from 650 million light-years away.
—Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 8 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 13 May. 2024.
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