Question

The table below shows some of the stars in our galaxy and their numbers of light years from the Sun.

Answer 1

Answer:

• Tau Ceti, 11.9 light years from the Sun

Explanation:

The table is:

Star                           Light Years from the Sun

Chara                        27.3 light years

Tau Ceti                    11.9 light years

Zeta Leporis            70.2 light years

Epsilon Reticuli        59.5 light years

Light years is a unit of distance. It is the distance that the light travels in one year.

Since the speed of light is a constant, $c$ ≈ 300,000,000 m/s, one light year is equal to the product of $c$ by the number of seconds in a year (about 31,540,000‬ seconds).

Thus, the smaller the number of light years a star is from the Sun the closer the distance between the star and the Sun.

Rank the distances in increasing order:

•  11.9 light years < 27.3 light years < 59.5 light years < 70.2 light years

Then, Tau Ceti, with 11.9 light years is the closest to the Sun.