HallsofIvy said:But why are you converting "light years" to meters per second?
The definition of "light year" is "the distance light travels on one year".
Light will travel 4.2 light years in 4.2 years!
Mark44 said:The question is a "gimme." To repeat what HallsOfIvy said, it takes 4.2 years for light to travel 4.2 light years.
4.2 light years refers to the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year. This distance is equivalent to approximately 9.461 trillion kilometers or 5.879 trillion miles.
4.2 light years is a relatively short distance in terms of the vastness of space. It is considered a close distance in terms of interstellar travel and is about 265,000 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
At our current technology level, it would take thousands of years to travel 4.2 light years. However, with advancements in space travel, it is possible to reach this distance in a shorter amount of time in the future.
The star located 4.2 light years away from Earth is called Proxima Centauri. It is a red dwarf star and is the closest star to our solar system.
No, Proxima Centauri is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. It can only be seen with the help of powerful telescopes. However, its neighboring stars, Alpha Centauri A and B, can be seen with the naked eye and are also located 4.2 light years away from Earth.