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
If the distances were in light years, they would be small numbers. The sun is 8.3 light minutes away.
You have given a good reason. Metric units are prefered in all sciences, finally.
Distances to planets are also often meaured in astronomical units (a.u.). One a.u. is the average distance from earth to the sun, 150 million km).
You are on the right track! The distances to planets are indeed given in kilometers because they are relatively close to us compared to other celestial objects like stars or galaxies. The average distance from Earth to the other planets in our solar system ranges from about 36 million miles (57.9 million kilometers) to around 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers). While these distances may seem large, they are still relatively small in astronomical terms.
Using kilometers as a unit of measurement allows us to easily express these relatively shorter distances. It is a practical choice given that the kilometer is widely understood and used in scientific and everyday contexts.
In contrast, using units like light years, which measure the distance light travels in a year, would not be practical for measuring planetary distances. Light years are typically used for much larger distances, such as interstellar or intergalactic distances, where kilometers would become inconveniently large numbers.
So, to summarize, the distances to the planets are given in kilometers because they are relatively close to us compared to other celestial objects, and it is a practical unit of measurement for these shorter distances.