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The distance to the nearest star from the Sun is?

A. About 14 billion light-years.
B. About 8 light-minutes.
C. About 4 light-years.
D. About 100,000 light-years.

User QHarr
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1 Answer

3 votes

Final answer:

The distance to the nearest star from the Sun is About 4 light-years, which corresponds to answer C. Proxima Centauri is the nearest star to our Sun, approximately 38 trillion kilometers away.

Step-by-step explanation:

The distance to the nearest star from the Sun is About 4 light-years. This means the correct answer is C. About 4 light-years. Light-years are used to measure the vast distances in space because stars are incredibly far apart. Our Sun is separated from Proxima Centauri, the closest other star, by about 4 light-years, which is roughly 38 trillion kilometers. To put that in perspective, light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to reach Earth and about 4.1 hours to reach Neptune. Meanwhile, a light-year is approximately 9.46 trillion kilometers, the distance that light travels in one year.

It's interesting to note that the brightest star visible in the U.S. night sky without a telescope is Sirius, which is a little more than 8 light-years away, while light from our Sun reaches us in about 8 minutes. This coincidence in numbers highlights the vast difference between the astronomical unit (AU), which is the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and the light-year, a much larger unit used for measuring the enormous distances between stars.

User Edzer Pebesma
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