Astronomers measure large distances in light-years. One light-year is the distance that light can travel in one year, or approximately 5.88 × 1012 miles. Suppose a star is 9.8 × 101 light-years from Earth. In scientific notation, approximately how many miles is it? (1 point)

Answer 1

5.88 × 10^12 miles per light-year
9.8 × 10^1 light-years

Therefore, to calculate the distance in miles, we multiply the two values:

(5.88 × 10^12) x (9.8 × 10^1) = 57.624 × 10^13 miles

In scientific notation, this is approximately 5.76 × 10^14 miles.