To put that into perspective, there are more than 70 star systems within 3.3 light years of planet Earth. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) passed a resolution – B2 – in 2015 that included a mention of an existing explicit definition of what a parsec is:Įxactly 648000 / π astronomical units, or approximately 3.08567758149137×10 16 metres Parsecs to Light Years Why Do We Use Parsecs?īasically, parsecs are what scientists use to find the distance of stars within 100 light years of our solar system. It takes place during a scene where Han Solo brags that the Millennium Falcon “made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.” The famous space smuggler was bragging about his ship the Millennium Falcon’s ability to endure shorter, much more risky routes through hyperspace. This article begins with an infamous line in Star Wars: A New Hope. The unit was likely named by a British astronomer, Herbert Hall Turner, who suggested the unit of astronomical measurement in 1913. The term parsec is a portmanteau – a combination of two words: Parallax and Arcsecond. To be exact, a parsec is a unit of distance that’s equal to ~19 trillion miles:ġ parsec = 3.26 light-years = 19 trillion miles Partially because of the off-the-wall time travel theories we’ve extrapolated from it, but mostly for George Lucas’ mistaking of time for distance. Han Solo’s boast will forever live in astronomical infamy. “You’ve never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.” ― Han Solo
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