Light-month

Light-month

A light-month (also written light month) is a unit of length. It is defined as the distance light travels in an absolute vacuum in one full month (thirty days of 86,400 seconds each) or 777,062,051,136,000 metres (~777 Tm).

Explanation

Note that this value is exact, since the metre is actually defined in terms of the speed of light. Nevertheless, since the term "month" can be understood in various ways (hollow month, average julian month, etc.), use of this unit is not recommended.

The light-month is not very frequently used at all since there are few astronomical objects of that magnitude; the orbits of outer solar system objects are better measured in light-days or light-hours, whilst interstellar distances are on the order of light-years. There are, however, some exceptions. The Oort cloud, for example, is thought to extend between 10 and 20 light-months out from the Sun.

See also

* Astronomical unit
* Light-day
* Light-hour
* Light-minute
* Light-second
* Light-week
* Light-year
* Parsec


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • light-month — «LYT MUHNTH», noun. the distance that light travels in one month; about 500 billion miles …   Useful english dictionary

  • Light-year — For other uses, see Light year (disambiguation). Image showing the scale of a light year (outer shell) and a light month (inner shell) surrounding the Sun compared to Comet 1910 A1 s orbit (yellow line) and Comet Hyakutake s orbit (orange line).… …   Wikipedia

  • Light-second — A light second is a unit of length. It is defined as the distance light travels in an absolute vacuum in one second or 299,792,458 meters. Note that this value is considered exact, since the meter is actually (as of 1983) defined in terms of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Light-week — A light week (also written light week) is a unit of length. It is defined as the distance light travels in an absolute vacuum in one week (seven days of 86,400 seconds each) or 181,314,478,598,400 metres ( 181 Tm).Note that this value is exact,… …   Wikipedia

  • Light-day — A light day (also written light day) is a unit of length. It is defined as the distance light travels in an absolute vacuum in one day (of 86,400 seconds) or 25,902,068,371,200 metres ( 26 Tm).Note that this value is exact, since the metre is… …   Wikipedia

  • Light-hour — A light hour (also written light hour) is a unit of length. It is the distance travelled by light in vacuum in one hour. Based on the current definition of the metre a light hour is equal to 1,079,252,848,800 metres ( 1.08 Tm).This distance can… …   Wikipedia

  • Light-minute — A light minute (also written light minute) is a unit of length. It is defined as the distance light travels in an absolute vacuum in one minute or 17,987,547,480 metres ( 18 Gm). Note that this value is exact, since the metre is actually defined… …   Wikipedia

  • Light Dark Matter — refers to Dark Matter WIMP candidates with masses less than 1 GeV. [cite conference |first=M. |last=Cassé |authorlink= |coauthors=Fayet, P. |title=Light Dark Matter |booktitle= |pages= |publisher= |conference=21st IAP Colloquium Mass Profiles and …   Wikipedia

  • Light painting — Light painting, also known as light drawing is a photographic technique in which exposures are made usually at night or in a darkened room by moving a hand held light source or by moving the camera. In many cases the light source itself does not… …   Wikipedia

  • Light Cycle — Light cycles are fictional vehicles designed by Syd Mead for the simulated world of the Tron universe. These futuristic two wheeled vehicles resemble motorcycles and create walls of colored light.The vehicles were primarily used in a competition… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”