: a unit of measure for interstellar space that is equal to 3.26 light-years and is the distance to an object having a parallax of one second as seen from points separated by one astronomical unit
Examples of parsec in a Sentence
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These gravitational waves most likely come from tightly orbiting supermassive black holes within a parsec of each other that are close to merging.
—
Jonathan O’Callaghan, WIRED, 1 Dec. 2024
To wrap your mind around that distance, 1 parsec is equal to 3.26 light years or about 206,265 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
—Justin Ray, Robb Report, 14 June 2023
The clustered filaments are especially compelling as they are regularly spaced from each other, with roughly one parsec between them.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 13 May 2022
This is a huge region; for comparison, ten kiloparsec is about the radius of a typical spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way, and a parsec itself is already pretty big, at more than three light-years.
—Stephon Alexander, Wired, 31 Aug. 2021
Recently astronomers settled on a value of 25 parsecs (82 light-years) above the plane, but our results strongly disagree with this estimate.
—Mark J. Reid, Scientific American, 17 Mar. 2020
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Jonathan O’Callaghan, WIRED, 1 Dec. 2024
To wrap your mind around that distance, 1 parsec is equal to 3.26 light years or about 206,265 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
—Justin Ray, Robb Report, 14 June 2023
The clustered filaments are especially compelling as they are regularly spaced from each other, with roughly one parsec between them.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 13 May 2022
This is a huge region; for comparison, ten kiloparsec is about the radius of a typical spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way, and a parsec itself is already pretty big, at more than three light-years.
—Stephon Alexander, Wired, 31 Aug. 2021
Recently astronomers settled on a value of 25 parsecs (82 light-years) above the plane, but our results strongly disagree with this estimate.
—Mark J. Reid, Scientific American, 17 Mar. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Parsec.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parsec. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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