How many meters are in 1 light-year?

One light-year equals approximately 9.461 x 1015 m (about 9.461 trillion km).

How is a light-year defined?

A light-year is the distance light travels in one Julian year (365.25 days) in a vacuum. Since light moves at 299,792,458 m/s, one light-year = 9,460,730,472,580,800 m exactly.

Do astronomers prefer light-years or parsecs?

Professional astronomers prefer parsecs (1 pc = 3.26 ly). Light-years are more common in popular science because they are easier to conceptualize: the time it takes light to travel.

Light-years to Meters (ly to m) Converter

1 ly = 9.46073 × 10¹⁵ m

1 Light-year equals 9.46073 × 10¹⁵ Meters (1 ly = 9.46073 × 10¹⁵ m). Convert Light-years to Meters with formula, table, and examples.

One light-year equals approximately 9.461 x 10¹⁵ meters (about 9.5 quadrillion). This is one of the most important astronomical conversions, connecting the SI base unit of length with the standard unit for interstellar distances.

How to Convert Light-years to Meters

m = ly × 9.46073 × 10¹⁵

Multiply the value in Light-years by 9.46073 × 10¹⁵

Take your value in Light-years
Multiply by 9.46073 × 10¹⁵
Read the result in Meters

Common Light-years to Meters Conversions

Light-years (ly)	Meters (m)	Status
1 × 10⁻¹⁵ ly	9.4607 m
1 × 10⁻¹⁴ ly	94.6073 m
1 × 10⁻¹³ ly	946.073 m
1 × 10⁻¹² ly	9,460.7305 m
1 × 10⁻¹¹ ly	94,607.3047 m
1 × 10⁻¹⁰ ly	946,073.0473 m
1 × 10⁻⁹ ly	9,460,730.4726 m
1 × 10⁻⁸ ly	94,607,304.7258 m
1 × 10⁻⁷ ly	946,073,047.2581 m
0.000001 ly	9,460,730,472.5808 m
0.00001 ly	94,607,304,725.808 m

Good to Know About Light-years to Meters Conversion

The meter was defined from the Earth. The light-year was defined from the universe. One is terrestrial; the other is cosmic. Together they connect our planet to the stars through a single, consistent measurement system.

Light-years to Meters: What You Need to Know

A light-year is 9.461 trillion km or 9.461 x 10¹⁵ m. Proxima Centauri at 4.24 light-years is about 4.01 x 10¹⁶ m away. The meter is the base unit for all metric length; the light-year translates cosmic distances into metric reality.

What is a Light-year? ly

The distance light travels in one Julian year (365.25 days) in vacuum. Exactly 9,460,730,472,580,800 meters. Used for interstellar distances.

Astronomical interstellar distances astronomy popular science

Learn more about Light-year →

What is a Meter? m

The base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Used worldwide as the standard measure of distance.

Metric construction athletics navigation

Learn more about Meter →

Going the other way? Use our Meters to Light-years converter.

Light-years to Meters FAQ

One light-year equals approximately 9.461 x 10¹⁵ m (about 9.461 trillion km).
A light-year is the distance light travels in one Julian year (365.25 days) in a vacuum. Since light moves at 299,792,458 m/s, one light-year = 9,460,730,472,580,800 m exactly.
Professional astronomers prefer parsecs (1 pc = 3.26 ly). Light-years are more common in popular science because they are easier to conceptualize: the time it takes light to travel.

Non-Frequently Asked Questions About Light-years to Meters

Questions nobody should ask - but someone did.

A marathon is 42,195 m. One light-year is about 2.243 x 10¹¹ marathons (224 billion). If you ran a marathon every day, it would take 614 million years to cover 1 light-year. Running is healthy but not interstellar.
A blink takes about 0.3 seconds. Light travels about 89,938 km (89.9 million meters) in that time. You missed 90 million meters of light travel with every blink. Stop blinking and you will... still miss it because your eyes cannot track photons.
Voyager 1, the fastest human-made object leaving the solar system, travels at about 17 km/s. At that speed, it would take about 17,600 years to cover 1 light-year. Voyager launched in 1977 and has covered 0.0025 light-years so far. Yes, it is really that far.