Home| Length / Distance Conversion |
Factors in boldface are exact
Conversion Factors for LENGTH
To convert from to Multiply by
angstrom (Å) meter (m) 1.0 E-10
angstrom (Å) nanometer (nm) 1.0 E-01
astronomical unit (AU) meter (m) 1.495 979 E+11
chain (based on U.S. survey foot) (ch) meter (m) 2.011 684 E+01
fathom (based on U.S. survey foot) meter (m) 1.828 804 E+00
fermi meter (m) 1.0 E-15
fermi femtometer (fm) 1.0 E+00
foot (ft) meter (m) 3.048 E-01
foot (U.S. survey) (ft) meter (m) 3.048 006 E-01
inch (in) meter (m) 2.54 E-02
inch (in) centimeter (cm) 2.54 E+00
kayser (K) reciprocal meter(m-1) 1 E+02
light year (l.y.) meter (m) 9.460 73 E+15
microinch meter (m) 2.54 E208
microinch micrometer (mm) 2.54 E202
micron (m) meter (m) 1.0 E-06
micron (m) micrometer (mm) 1.0 E+00
mil (0.001 in) meter (m) 2.54 E-05
mil (0.001 in) millimeter (mm) 2.54 E-02
mile (mi) meter (m) 1.609 344 E+03
mile (mi) kilometer (km) 1.609 344 E+00
mile (based on U.S. survey foot) (mi) meter (m) 1.609 347 E+03
mile (based on U.S. survey foot) (mi) kilometer (km) 1.609 347 E+00
mile, nautical meter (m) 1.852 E+03
parsec (pc) meter (m) 3.085 678 E+16
pica (computer) (1/6 in) meter (m) 4.233 333 E-03
pica (computer) (1/6 in) millimeter (mm) 4.233 333 E+00
pica (printer's) meter (m) 4.217 518 E-03
pica (printer's) millimeter (mm) 4.217 518 E+00
point (computer) (1/72 in) meter (m) 3.527 778 E-04
point (computer) (1/72 in) millimeter (mm) 3.527 778 E-01
point (printer's) meter (m) 3.514 598 E-04
point (printer's) millimeter (mm) 3.514 598 E-01
rod (based on U.S. survey foot) (rd) meter (m) 5.029 210 E+00
yard (yd) meter (m) 9.144 E-01
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light metre metre (m) 3.33564095198152049575576714474919 E-09
PARSEC
unit for expressing distances to stars and galaxies, used by professional
astronomers. It represents the distance at which the radius of the Earth's
orbit subtends an angle of one second of arc; thus a star at a distance of
one parsec would have a parallax of one second, and the distance of an object
in parsecs is the reciprocal of its parallax in seconds of arc. For example,
the nearest triple-star system, Alpha Centauri, has a parallax of 0.753 second
of arc; hence, its distance from the Sun and the Earth is 1.33 parsec. One
parsec equals 3.26 light-years, which is equivalent to 3.09 E+13 km
(1.92 E+13 miles).
In the Milky Way Galaxy, wherein the Earth is located, distances to remote
stars are measured in terms of kiloparsecs (1 kiloparsec = 1,000 parsecs).
The Sun is at a distance of 8.5 kiloparsecs from the centre of the Milky Way
system. When dealing with other galaxies or clusters of galaxies, the
convenient unit is the megaparsec (1 megaparsec = 1,000,000 parsecs). The
distance to the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) is about 0.7 megaparsec. Some
galaxies and quasars have likely distances on the order of about 3,000
megaparsecs, or 9,000,000,000 to 10,000,000,000 light-years.