can this be explained easily as i know nothing about this stuff.just wondered.

It's filled with helium.

It's a LOT longer.

Happy to help.

a Year is a unit of time

'Light' is the speed of light, the dimensions of which are distance /time

light year = (speed of light)x (year)

speed x time =(distance/time) x time =
= distance

A light year is a unit of length.

A lightyear is a measure of distance, (the distance light travels in a year)

A year is a measure of time.

year is a measure of time
lightyear is a measure of distance
which is longer depends how fast you're going

It's a distance- the distance light travels in one year. Dunno how far that is though. Travels 186000 miles a second, though, so it'll be a lot.

But would it take off on a conveyor belt?

A light year is approx 5,878,630,000,000 miles apparently

A year is too bloody long when it's like this one.

Hope that helps.
J

5865696000000 miles in a year then, based on 186000 x 60 x 60 x 24 x 365.

This reminds me of this "joke"

Q: What's the difference between a tyre and 365 used condoms?

A: One's a Goodyear; the other's a F*%kin great year!!! 😆

OMG! OMG!
someone sent me a picture of the "rossette nebula" which is 3000 light years away! 😯
how can this be seen if it is so far away??????

Er.. It's just what it looked like 3000 years ago.. There's nothing (well very very little) in space to diminish the light so it keeps on going

you're essentially looking at a 3000 year old image

how can this be seen if it is so far away??????

Because it's more than twelve years old. Unlike you. :p

big telescope?

Obviously this means that the picture you saw is of what was happening in the Nebula 3000 years ago, because that's when the light that made the picture started the journey to us.

time travel – innit

Due to the curvature of space you could actually looking at the back of your own head.

was talking to someone who is apparently in the know about technology and stuff, working in the navy as an intellegence office.

According to this navy intel officer, 15 years ago, a satallite could provide a live feed satalite video at a clarity that would allow the operator to look at the scar on the hand of someone driving a car via the reflection in the wingmirror.

apparently.

According to this navy intel officer, 15 years ago, a satallite could provide a live feed satalite video at a clarity that would allow the operator to look at the scar on the hand of someone driving a car via the reflection in the wingmirror.

"Tonight on CSI…."

Useful. Quite a few wanted fugitives were caught in this way. Then they all started wearing gloves. It is depressing how easy it is for people with scars on their hands to defeat the most powerful military intelligence agencies with such low-tech solutions.

The easy way of understanding it is relating it to sound. Think about thunder and lightening – you see it before you hear it because light travels more quickly than sound, but it still has to travel.

Multiply that by a year….

GrahamS – Member

According to this navy intel officer, 15 years ago, a satallite could provide a live feed satalite video at a clarity that would allow the operator to look at the scar on the hand of someone driving a car via the reflection in the wingmirror.

"Tonight on CSI…."

PMSL

This thread is a joke right?

Look dont have a go but i just dont get this.i understand that stars are so far away that what we see is actually no longer there.i get that. so are you all saying that this rossette nebula thingy is just up there and you can look at it with a pretty decent telescope BUT it is actually a stupidly, ridiculous, long physical distance away(or was cos its gone now) and so that how we see it.the light from it is still coming to us, so we can see it.so effectivly the image of it has travelled to us(is that right?)

ive reread this thread and i think i am right in saying that the image has travelled to us.sort of.weird.

Yes that is right – light moves just like sound, only much quicker so much of what we see from space happened, quite literally, light years ago. This is why, with a powerful telescope scientists in white coats can look back in time.

Yes

It's just like a normal year only it's brighter.

ive reread this thread and i think i am right in saying that the image has travelled to us.sort of.weird.

but thats how we see anything. Unless you believe in the emission theory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_theory_%28vision%29

But that was pretty much discounted in 1021 by some arab bloke

much of what we see from space happened, quite literally, light years ago

Well not literally. As we've all said, 'light years' = distance

But 'quite literally,… years ago'

Okay Mr Pedant. Parp!