LIGHT-YEAR

in astronomy, the distance traveled by light moving in a vacuum in the course of one year, at its accepted velocity of 299,792,458 metres per second (186,282 miles per second). A light-year equals about 9.46053 1012 km (5.878 1012 miles), or 63,240 astronomical units. About 3.262 light-years equal one parsec (q.v.).