If 55 Cancri e is 40 light years away from our Solar System, exactly how far is it, and how long would it take a 70 kilometer per second ship to get there?
A light-year is an astronomical unit for distance. It refers to the distance traveled by light in one Earth-year. One light-year is equivalent to 9,460,730,472,580.8 kilometers. (Nine trillion, four hundred sixty billion, seven hundred thirty million, four hundred seventy two thousand, five hundred eighty, point eight)
Now let's answer the question at the beginning of this post. Exactly how far is 55 Cancri e from our Solar System, and how long would it take a 70 kilometer per second ship to get there?
55 Cancri e is 40 light years away from us, and that is exactly 378,429,218,903,232 kilometers when converted. (Three hundred seventy eight trillion, four hundred twenty nine billion, two hundred eighteen million, nine hundred three thousand, two hundred thirty two) If a ship that travels 70 kilometer per second will go on an adventure to this planet, it will take approximately 171,427 Earth years to arrive!
Keep this in mind. You are not and never will be able to convert light-year to Earth-year. A light-year is a unit for distance, and an Earth-year is a unit for time.
I hope you learned something today. Have an awesome day, and stay cool!
- Michelle
