A light year is not a unit of time but a big unit of distance. One light year is a distance covered by light in one year. It is 9,460,730,472,580,800 meters (5,880,000,000,000 miles).
The light year is often used to define distances to and between stars: a light year is not a unit of time. In astronomy, the preferred unit of measurement for such distances is the parsec, which is equal to approximately 3.26 light years. The parsec is preferred because it can be used more easily from observations. However, outside scientific circles, the term light year is more widely used by the general public.
It takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for light to travel from the Sun to the Earth. The center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about 28,000 light years away. The Galaxy is about 100,000 light years across.
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