astronomy unit - a linear unit used for astronomical distanceslight year - the distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1 year; 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers light hour - the distance light travels in a vacuum in one hour; approximately one billion kilometers light minute - the distance light travels in a vacuum in one minute; approximately 18 million kilometers light second - the distance light travels in a vacuum in one second; approximately 300,000 kilometers Astronomical Unit, AU - a unit of length used for distances within the solar system; equal to the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun (approximately 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers) parsec, secpar - a unit of astronomical length based on the distance from Earth at which stellar parallax is 1 second of arc; equivalent to 3.262 light years |