The Solar Neighborhood
New
distance scale:
1 light year (ly) =
Distance
traveled by light in 1 year
=
63,000 AU = 1013 km
=
10,000,000,000,000 km
(= 1 + 13 zeros)
= 10 trillion km
Nearest star to the Sun:
Proxima
Centauri, at a distance of 4.2 light years
Approx. 17 light years