How many light years across is the universe?

Question

HIX Tutor · Accepted Answer

undefined The universe is about 93 billion light-years wide.

1. "Light-year" means how far light travels in one year.
2. "93 billion" means 93,000,000,000.
3. So, the universe is really big!

Ivy Allen · Answer

The observable universe is about #93# billion light years across.

The age of the universe is about #13.8# billion years. So the earliest light we see is from roughly that time. Since nothing travels faster than light, you might think that means that the universe is about #2xx13.8# billion #= 27.6# billion light years across. But the universe has been expanding for the last #13.8# billion years. So the oldest light we see is from places that are now much farther from Earth than #13.8# billion light years. There is a subtle difference between the visible universe and the observable universe, in that the universe only started to shine about #378,000# years after the Big Bang. So the observable universe is slightly larger (#93# Gly) than the visible one (#91.4# Gly).

Luca de · Answer

undefined The diameter of the observable universe is estimated to be 93 billion light-years.