Q
QuestionAstronomy

The Andromeda Galaxy is located 2.5 million light-years away. How long does light take to travel from there to reach us?
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Answer

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Step 1:
I'll solve this problem step by step, following the specified LaTeX formatting guidelines:

Step 2:
: Identify the Given Information

- Distance to Andromeda Galaxy: $$2.5 \times 10^{6}$$ light-years
- We need to calculate the travel time of light

Step 3:
: Understand the Definition of a Light-Year

1 \text{ light-year} = \text{distance light travels in } 1 \text{ year}
A light-year is the distance light travels in one year. By definition, this means:

Step 4:
: Calculate the Travel Time

\text{Travel Time} = 2.5 \times 10^{6} \text{ years}
Since the distance is exactly the number of light-years away, the travel time is numerically equal to the distance:

Final Answer

Key Insight: A light-year is a unit of distance, not time, but in this case, the numerical value directly represents the travel time because the distance is expressed in light-years.