kiloparsec
1
9.9
A way to measure very large distances in space equal to about 3,260 light years
- noun
- /ˌkɪloʊˈpɑrˌsɛk/
- Specialized
:
kiloparsec
- The Andromeda Galaxy is approximately 780 kiloparsecs away from Earth.
Examples
-
Previous radio studies determined that 30 Doradus sits at one end of a long (three kiloparsec) dense interstellar cloud.
Academic text (1992) -
A kiloparsec corresponds to 31 trillion (19 million miles). -- Ed.
Academic text (1992) -
Astronomers often measure distances to galaxies in kiloparsecs rather than light-years.
-
A star located two kiloparsecs from us is in a distant part of our galaxy.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A unit used in astronomy to measure large distances in space equal to one thousand parsecs
is the basic definition without the extra note about common usage
How Far
megaparsec
1
9.9
- Specialized
1
9.9
kiloparsec
1
9.9
- Specialized
1
9.9
parsec
8
9.9
- Specialized
8
9.9
light-year
62
4.9
- Specialized
62
4.9
Surface Forms
kiloparsec singular
kiloparsecs plural
Morphology
Etymology
Kiloparsec breaks into kilo- meaning 'thousand' (as in kilometer) and parsec, an astronomy unit that comes from the idea of 'parallax', the 'tiny shift' of a star when Earth moves. So a kiloparsec is simply a thousand of those parsecs and is used to measure the very large distances between stars and galaxies.