Convert light year to mile (US survey) Online | Free Length Converter

Light Year

A light year is a unit of distance used in astronomy to measure how far light travels in one year. Light moves extremely fast—about 299,792 kilometers per second—so in one year, it travels roughly 9.46 trillion kilometers (or about 5.88 trillion miles). Light years help scientists express the huge distances between stars and galaxies. For example, the nearest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri, is about 4.24 light years away. The term “light year” can be confusing because it sounds like a measure of time, but it actually measures distance.

Mile (US Survey)

The US survey mile is a unit of length used in land surveying in the United States. It is defined as exactly 5,280 survey feet, with one survey foot equal to 1200/3937 meters (approximately 0.3048006096 meters). This makes the US survey mile equal to about 1,609.3472 meters, slightly longer than the international (statute) mile, which is exactly 1,609.344 meters.

The US survey mile was established to maintain consistency with older land measurement systems based on the Mendenhall Order of 1893. It was commonly used in mapping, legal land descriptions, and public land surveys.

Although the difference between the survey and statute mile is very small (about 3.2 millimeters), it can be significant over large distances. As of 2023, the U.S. has officially retired the survey foot (and survey mile) for most applications, favoring the international foot and mile to standardize measurements.