1016.0 m · Distance
One light-year
9.461 trillion kmThe standard interstellar distance unit: how far light travels in one year through vacuum.
9.461 trillion km → ≈300 light-years
Interstellar scale
Light-years become geography.
Beyond the planetary system, distances and diffuse regions dominate. Nebulae have chosen or observed extents rather than solid edges, while the light-year is a defined unit of distance.
Enter this realm in the scale engine
Questions this realm answers
Start with curiosity.
- How far away is Proxima Centauri?
- How large is the Orion Nebula?
- Is the Oort Cloud wider than a light-year?
9 source-backed coordinates
Every landmark in interstellar scale.
Ordered by the actual logarithm of its SI value.
1016.0 m · Nebulae
Ring Nebula
≈1 light-yearA glowing shell expelled by a dying Sun-like star, seen nearly along its central axis.
1016.5 m · Solar system
Oort Cloud
≈3.2 light-yearsA hypothetical distant reservoir of icy bodies surrounding the planetary system.
1016.6 m · Distance
Distance to Proxima Centauri
≈4.24 light-yearsThe gap between the Sun and the nearest known star beyond it.
1017.0 m · Nebulae
Crab Nebula
≈11 light-yearsThe expanding remains of a supernova observed from Earth in the year 1054.
1017.4 m · Nebulae
Orion Nebula
≈24 light-yearsA nearby stellar nursery where gas, dust and newborn stars reshape one another.
1017.8 m · Nebulae
Eagle Nebula
≈70 light-yearsA star-forming region famous for the Pillars of Creation.
1018.0 m · Star systems
Typical globular cluster
≈100 light-yearsA dense, ancient swarm containing hundreds of thousands of stars in a roughly spherical volume.
1018.5 m · Nebulae
Carina Nebula
≈300 light-yearsA vast star-forming complex filled with massive young stars, dust lanes and glowing gas.
Guided routes