If a star is 1000 light years away, how long would it take for us to see light given off from the star?

Question

Josiah Adams · Accepted Answer

If you are seeing the star now, the light that reaching your eyes left 1000 years back.

Light travels 300,000 kilometers per second in vacuum, and a light year is the distance that light travels in a year.

HIX Tutor · Answer

undefined Great question! Let's think about it together.

1. **What is a light year?**
   - A light year is how far light travels in one year.

2. **If the star is 1000 light years away, what does that mean?**
   - It means that light from the star takes 1000 years to reach us.

3. **So, how long until we see the light from that star?**
   - If the light left the star right now, it would take 1000 years for us to see it.

4. **What if the star was shining for a long time?**
   - Even if the star has been shining for a long time, we will see the light only after it travels those 1000 years.

So, if the star is 1000 light years away, it takes 1000 years for us to see its light! Does that make sense?

Levi Anderson · Answer

undefined A star that is 1000 light years away would take 1000 years for us to see its light.