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How many light years are there from Earth to Pluto?

1 Answer

Feb 11, 2016

Currently about $0.0005$ $0.0005$ ly

Explanation:

The distance between the Earth and Pluto varies between about $28.6$ $28.6$ A.U. and $50$ $50$ A.U. It is currently at about $33.8$ $33.8$ A.U.

$1$ $1$ A.U. is the average distance between the Sun and the Earth, which is about $8.3$ $8.3$ light minutes.

So Pluto is approximately $33.8 \cdot 8.3 \approx 280$ $33.8 * 8.3 ~~ 280$ light minutes away.

There are $1440$ $1440$ minutes in a day and about $365$ $365$ days per year, so in light years, the current distance to Pluto is about:

$\frac{280}{1440 \cdot 365} \approx 0.0005$ $280 / (1440 * 365) ~~ 0.0005$ ly

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