light years
Astronomical distance units
Light years are units of astronomical distance—how far light travels in one year, about 5.88 trillion miles.
The nearest star is over four light years away.
In casual speech, light years suggests an enormous gap: Technology has advanced light years since then, We're light years ahead of the competition.
The singular is light year.
Gravitationally bound stellar mass
- nebulaInterstellar gas formation
- cosmosOrderly totality of existence
- supernovaExploding massive star
- quasarLuminous active galactic core
pulsar · black hole · interstellar · universe · cosmology · red dwarf · white dwarf · big bang
Extremely great in size
- immenseExtremely large in scope
- unfathomableBeyond comprehension or measurement
- incomprehensibleImpossible to understand
- enormousExtremely large in scale
measureless · boundless · expanse · cosmic scale · interstellar · intergalactic · astronomical · remote
Directed rate of motion
- luminalOf a cavity's interior
- superluminalExceeding light's speed
- relativityHow observers differ
- EinsteinByword for genius
warp · hyperspace · time dilation · spacetime · photon · beam · cosmic ray
In the lead
- beyondFarther than something
- advancedFar along in development
- superiorHigher in rank
- progressMovement toward improvement
leap · gap · difference · improvement · transformed · unrecognizable · evolution · generations
galaxy
Gravitationally bound stellar mass
quasar · pulsar · black hole · interstellar · universe · cosmology · red dwarf · white dwarf · big bang · space-time
vast
Extremely great in size
- immenseExtremely large in scope
- unfathomableBeyond comprehension or measurement
- incomprehensibleImpossible to understand
enormous · measureless · boundless · expanse · cosmic scale · interstellar · intergalactic · astronomical · remote · distant
velocity
Directed rate of motion
- luminalOf a cavity's interior
- superluminalExceeding light's speed
- relativityHow observers differ
Einstein · warp · hyperspace · time dilation · spacetime · photon · beam · cosmic ray
ahead
In the lead
progress · leap · gap · difference · improvement · transformed · unrecognizable · evolution · generations · eons
- cosmic distancesparsecs, megaparsec, astronomical units, cosmic scale
- cosmosuniverse, galaxies, galaxy, stars, star
- measurementscales, gauging, balance, metering, gram
- Hyperbolea zillion, bazillion, gazillion, bajillion, zillion
- scientific metaphorsblack hole, big bang, DNA, evolution, chain reaction
- time unitssecond, minute, hour, seconds, day
light yearsnanometers
Billionths of meters
angstroms · millimeters · inches · centimeters · picometers
light yearsinches
Small length units
baby steps · a stone's throw · neck and neck · splitting hairs