The distance to the center of the Virgo cluster of galaxies is 5 × 10²³ m.How long does it take light to travel from these galaxies to us? A)7,000 years B)54,000 years C)120,000 years D)12 million years E)54 million years

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To calculate the time taken by light to travel from the Virgo cluster to us, we can use the formula:

time = distance / speed of light

The given distance is 5 × 10^23 m.

The speed of light is approximately 3 × 10^8 m/s.

Plugging in the values:

time = (5 × 10^23 m) / (3 × 10^8 m/s)

time = 1.67 × 10^15 s

Converting this to years:

time = (1.67 × 10^15 s) / (60 s/min × 60 min/hr × 24 hr/day × 365 days/yr)

time ≈ 53.1 million years

Therefore, the best choice is E.

The Distance to the Center of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies