Y r the distances to the planets given in km? I've already answered the 2nd part to this question, and this is the fist part.
I think that the distances to the planets are given in kilometres because all the planets aren't that far away from eachother that they need to be measured in light years.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, thanks
Sara: it takes light 8 min to reach the Earth from the Sun. How far would the light travel in one year? So you are right, but a light year is far, far greater than the planets orbitals.
http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1266894455
You are correct in assuming that the distances to the planets are given in kilometers because they are relatively close to each other compared to distances measured in light-years.
The distance between objects in space can typically be measured in two ways: astronomical units (AU) or light-years (ly). An AU is a unit of length that is used to measure distances within our solar system. It is equal to the average distance from the Earth to the Sun, approximately 149.6 million kilometers. However, astronomical units are not used to measure distances between planets within our solar system.
On the other hand, light-year is a unit of length used to measure extremely large distances in space. It represents the distance that light travels in one year, which is about 9.5 trillion kilometers. Light-years are typically used to measure distances between objects outside of our solar system, such as other stars or galaxies.
Since the planets in our solar system are relatively close to each other compared to the vast distances between stars and galaxies, their distances are given in kilometers instead of light-years. Kilometers provide a more appropriate and practical unit of measurement for these relatively shorter distances within our own celestial neighborhood.
Therefore, the distances to the planets are given in kilometers because it is a suitable unit of measurement that helps us better understand and relate to the scale of our solar system.