as in worlds
a huge physical or conceptual distance
my sister and I are close in age, but personality-wise, there are light-years between us
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Recent Examples of light-years
According to recent estimates, there are roughly 200 billion stars spanning about 100,000 light-years.
—
Matthew S Williams, Interesting Engineering, 10 Jan. 2026
Located about 600 light-years away, the cluster is one of the closest of its kind to Earth, according to NASA.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
The two planets, roughly four times the size of Earth, were discovered to be orbiting around a millisecond pulsar star named PSR B1257+12, which is 2,300 light-years away.
—Lorenzino Estrada, AZCentral.com, 9 Jan. 2026
The core is composed of neutral hydrogen and spans 4,900 light-years in diameter.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 8 Jan. 2026
The cluster is 6-to-13 light-years across and has some of the hottest and biggest stars found in the Milky Way.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 5 Jan. 2026
Betelgeuse is approximately 600 light-years from Earth, and is dying a slow death that someday will turn extremely violent!
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 4 Jan. 2026
In the center is a central bulge of stars, and the whole thing is surrounded by a vast halo of stars and dark matter about a million light-years wide.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 6 Nov. 2025
From the perspective of a stationary observer on Earth, the nearest singlet Sun-like star is Tau Ceti, about 12 light-years away.
—Big Think, 5 Nov. 2025
Matthew S Williams, Interesting Engineering, 10 Jan. 2026
Located about 600 light-years away, the cluster is one of the closest of its kind to Earth, according to NASA.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
The two planets, roughly four times the size of Earth, were discovered to be orbiting around a millisecond pulsar star named PSR B1257+12, which is 2,300 light-years away.
—Lorenzino Estrada, AZCentral.com, 9 Jan. 2026
The core is composed of neutral hydrogen and spans 4,900 light-years in diameter.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 8 Jan. 2026
The cluster is 6-to-13 light-years across and has some of the hottest and biggest stars found in the Milky Way.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 5 Jan. 2026
Betelgeuse is approximately 600 light-years from Earth, and is dying a slow death that someday will turn extremely violent!
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 4 Jan. 2026
In the center is a central bulge of stars, and the whole thing is surrounded by a vast halo of stars and dark matter about a million light-years wide.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 6 Nov. 2025
From the perspective of a stationary observer on Earth, the nearest singlet Sun-like star is Tau Ceti, about 12 light-years away.
—Big Think, 5 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-years
Noun
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But beyond the text on his screen there are entire worlds—of history, philosophy, and maybe even of love—in the stories and people he and AI conjure.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
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Their findings show that planets are far less common around stars in this late stage of life, suggesting that many close-orbiting worlds are likely destroyed as their stars expand, offering strong observational evidence of this dramatic planetary demise.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The dark-sky park, certified by light pollution authority DarkSky International, has incredibly inky nightscapes that help the stars, galaxies, and planets pop.—
Stephanie Vermillion,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Nov. 2025
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Flares such as this one reveal the presence of incredibly large stars near the hearts of galaxies and shed light on the very structure of galaxies, Ford said.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Light-years.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-years. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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