Understanding Light-Centuries: A Unit of Distance for the Universe

A light-century is a unit of distance that is equal to one percent of the speed of light. It is used to express distances that are very large or very small, such as those encountered in astrophysics and cosmology.

One light-century is equivalent to 3.086 x 10^12 meters, which is about 30 trillion kilometers (or 18.6 trillion miles). This unit is often used when discussing the distances between stars and galaxies, as well as the sizes of black holes and other very large objects in the universe.

For example, the nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, is about 4.24 light-centuries away. The Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 light-centuries in diameter, and the observable universe is estimated to be around 93 billion light-centuries in diameter.

The term "light-century" is a combination of the words "light" and "century," and it is used to convey the idea that the distance being measured is very large, but still finite and manageable. It is a useful tool for scientists and astronomers when discussing the vast distances in the universe.