light-year
Astronomical distance unit
A light-year is the distance light travels in one year—about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers.
It measures astronomical distances: The nearest star is about four light-years away.
In casual speech, light-years suggests a vast gap: Her skills are light-years ahead of the competition.
Often mistakenly thought to measure time rather than distance.
Interstellar length measure
- galaxyGravitationally bound stellar mass
- cosmosOrderly totality of existence
- universeComplete system or domain
- nebulaInterstellar gas formation
quasar · supernova · black hole · star · pulsar · Hubble · telescope · astrophysics
Extremely large in scope
- enormousExtremely large in scale
- vastExtremely great in size
- incomprehensibleImpossible to understand
- unfathomableBeyond comprehension or measurement
astronomical · mind-boggling · unimaginable · boundless · cosmic scale · inconceivable · staggering · infinite
Byword for genius
- relativityHow observers differ
- space-timeFused dimensional framework
- photonElectromagnetic radiation unit
- vacuumAbsence of matter
constant · electromagnetic · wavelength · time dilation · special relativity
Immense spans of time
- foreverFor all time
- quantum leapSudden dramatic advancement
- giant leapVery large jump
- worlds apartCompletely unlike each other
miles ahead · far cry · generational · epoch · ahead of its time · futuristic · visionary
parsec
Interstellar length measure
- galaxyGravitationally bound stellar mass
- cosmosOrderly totality of existence
- universeComplete system or domain
nebula · quasar · supernova · black hole · star · pulsar · Hubble · telescope · astrophysics · celestial
immense
Extremely large in scope
- enormousExtremely large in scale
- vastExtremely great in size
- incomprehensibleImpossible to understand
unfathomable · astronomical · mind-boggling · unimaginable · boundless · cosmic scale · inconceivable · staggering · infinite · expansive
Einstein
Byword for genius
- relativityHow observers differ
- space-timeFused dimensional framework
- photonElectromagnetic radiation unit
vacuum · constant · electromagnetic · wavelength · time dilation · special relativity
eons
Immense spans of time
- foreverFor all time
- quantum leapSudden dramatic advancement
- giant leapVery large jump
miles ahead · worlds apart · far cry · generational · epoch · ahead of its time · futuristic · visionary
- measurementsheight, stature, meters, depth, pound
- outer spacesun, moon, planet, star system, solar system
- spacespace, sun, moon, stars, star
- time unitssecond, minute, hour, seconds, day
- Alien Lifeextraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial intelligence, alien intelligence, first contact, biosignatures
- Astronomy Unitsastronomical unit, parsec, pc, megaparsec, solar mass
light-yearnanometer
Metric unit, billion-fold smaller
angstrom · picometer · femtometer · millimeter · micron
light-yearhair's breadth
Infinitesimal distance or margin
smidgen · iota · infinitesimal · speck · mote