Star Distances

Why do we use light years and astronomical units to measure distances in space?

• Scientists want to sound smart.

• Hubble discovered these units and wanted to use them.

• Space is too small to use km, it wouldn't make sense.

• Space is too big, vast, enormous to use traditional units, like miles.

Which of the following scenarios would be appropriate to use light years?

• From the sun to Earth

• from Earth to Neptune

• from the Milky Way to its closest galaxy

• Asteroid Belt to the Kuiper Belt

Which of the following scenarios would we use Light Years to determine, not Astronomical Units (AU)?

• distance from Mercury to Saturn

• distance from Sun to Neptune

• distance from Earth to Sun

• distance from Asteroid Belt to the Betelgeuse Star

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-3

A light year is the 

• distance that light travels in one year

• Speed at which light travels 

• Distance between the sun and the earth. 

• Distance at which light no longer exists. 

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS4-3

Based on the information in the table, which statement is true?

• Sirius and Rigel appear blue from Earth

• Sirius and Arcturus appear the dimmest from Earth

• Sirius appears the brightest from Earth, but Rigel has the greatest absolute brightness.

• Rigel has a lower absolute brightness than Sirius.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-3

A unit of length used for distances within the solar system. This is the average distance from the Sun to the Earth (about 93 million miles) and is used to measure distances inside our solar system.

• kilograms

• astronomical units

• light years

• nebula

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-3

The light from many stars can be seen from Earth. But there is a time delay between the time the light is emitted from the star and when we see it here on Earth. Which of the following statements best explains why there is a delay?

• Stars twinkle, so they give off light at regular intervals.

• The stars’ light is not bright enough to reach Earth immediately.

• Stars are light-years away from Earth, so light takes time to reach our planet.

• Earth’s atmosphere is too thick for light to reach the surface as soon as it is emitted.

Jeannie reads that light from the North Star, called Polaris takes 434 years to reach us on Earth. Why does it take the light from Polaris so long to reach us on Earth?

• Most of the light from Polaris is absorbed by different objects in space.

• Light from Polaris travels a vast distance before it reaches Earth.

• It is difficult for light to pass through the Earth’s atmosphere.

• Light slows down as it travels through space.

The distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year (about 6 trillion miles). This is used to measure distances about outside of our solar system.

• kilograms

• astronomical units

• light years

• star light

Light years are used to measure distances between _?_.

• stars

• planets

• galaxies

• solar systems

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-3