Measuring distances in space is really tricky for scientists.
One big problem is just how huge space is. For example, light from faraway stars can take millions of years to reach us!
Take Proxima Centauri, the closest star to us. It’s about 4.24 light-years away. That’s around 25 trillion miles!
Scientists also use a method called parallax to measure distances. This method means looking at objects from different spots in Earth's orbit. But this can be hard to do.
As the distances get bigger, using familiar units like kilometers doesn’t really work anymore.
That’s why astronomers like to use light-years or parsecs to talk about these huge distances. One parsec is about 3.26 light-years.
Using these units helps them explain things more clearly.
Measuring distances in space is really tricky for scientists.
One big problem is just how huge space is. For example, light from faraway stars can take millions of years to reach us!
Take Proxima Centauri, the closest star to us. It’s about 4.24 light-years away. That’s around 25 trillion miles!
Scientists also use a method called parallax to measure distances. This method means looking at objects from different spots in Earth's orbit. But this can be hard to do.
As the distances get bigger, using familiar units like kilometers doesn’t really work anymore.
That’s why astronomers like to use light-years or parsecs to talk about these huge distances. One parsec is about 3.26 light-years.
Using these units helps them explain things more clearly.