The conversion factor between a light-year and meters can be calculated by considering the speed of light in a vacuum. The speed of light is approximately 299,792,458 meters per second.
To determine the distance covered by light in one year, we need to multiply the speed of light by the number of seconds in a year. Assuming a Julian year of 365.25 days (accounting for leap years), and each day having 24 hours, 60 minutes, and 60 seconds, the conversion can be calculated as follows:
1 light-year = (299,792,458 meters/second) * (60 seconds/minute) * (60 minutes/hour) * (24 hours/day) * (365.25 days/year)
Simplifying the calculation:
1 light-year ≈ 9,461,000,000,000 kilometers
So, 1 light-year is approximately equal to 9.461 trillion kilometers, or equivalently, about 9.461 quadrillion meters.