Question

The brightest star in the night sky in the northern hemisphere is Sirius. Its distance from Earth is estimated to be 8.7 light years. A light year is the distance light travels in one year. Light travels at a speed of 3.00 × 108 m/s. Calculate the distance from Earth to Sirius in miles. (1 mi = 5280 ft) g

Answer 1

Answer:
`5.11(10)^(13)miles`

Step-by-step explanation:

A light year is a unit of length and is defined as "the distance a photon would travel in vacuum during a Julian year at the speed of light at an infinite distance from any gravitational field or magnetic field. "

In other words: It is the distance that the light travels in a year.

This unit is equivalent to
`5.879(10)^(12)miles`, which mathematically is expressed as:

`1Ly=5.879(10)^(12)miles`

Doing the conversion:

`8,7Ly.(5.879(10)^(12)miles)/(1Ly)=5.11(10)^(13)miles` This is the distance from Earth to Sirius in miles.