Light Year Web Search
Part I: Measuring the Speed of Light
1. Name the different astronomers that had a hand in creating the theory and then proving the speed of light.
Ole Roemer, Heinrich Hertz, Galileo
2. What is the speed of light?
how fast light travels (186,000 miles per second, or 300,000 kilometers per second).
3. Critical Thinking: Why don't we use light years on Earth?
Because Earth is not big enough to be measured in light years
Part II: What is a Light Year?
1. What is a light year?
It is the distance that light can travel in one year.
2. A light year is a measure of _distance_.
3. Why do astronomers use light years instead of miles?
because a light year is a measure of distance so large that it becomes hard to write and hard to interpret.
4. What other units of distance do astronomers sometimes use?
Astronomical Unit (within our Solar System) and the parsec.
Part III: Light-Travel Time and Distance
1. How fast does light travel?
light travels at 299,792 km/sec (186,322 miles/sec)
2. How long does it take light from the Sun to reach Earth?
8.32 light minutes.
3. We see stars exactly as they are at the same moment we look at them.
False
1. Name the different astronomers that had a hand in creating the theory and then proving the speed of light.
Ole Roemer, Heinrich Hertz, Galileo
2. What is the speed of light?
how fast light travels (186,000 miles per second, or 300,000 kilometers per second).
3. Critical Thinking: Why don't we use light years on Earth?
Because Earth is not big enough to be measured in light years
Part II: What is a Light Year?
1. What is a light year?
It is the distance that light can travel in one year.
2. A light year is a measure of _distance_.
3. Why do astronomers use light years instead of miles?
because a light year is a measure of distance so large that it becomes hard to write and hard to interpret.
4. What other units of distance do astronomers sometimes use?
Astronomical Unit (within our Solar System) and the parsec.
Part III: Light-Travel Time and Distance
1. How fast does light travel?
light travels at 299,792 km/sec (186,322 miles/sec)
2. How long does it take light from the Sun to reach Earth?
8.32 light minutes.
3. We see stars exactly as they are at the same moment we look at them.
False