section_path: Related units
section_name: Related units
paragraph_text: Related units
  
  Distances between objects within a star system tend to be small fractions of a light-year, and are usually expressed in astronomical units. However, smaller units of length can similarly be formed usefully by multiplying units of time by the speed of light. For example, the light-second, useful in astronomy, telecommunications and relativistic physics, is exactly 299 792 458 metres or 1 / 31 557 600 of a light-year. Units such as the light-minute, light-hour and light-day are sometimes used in popular science publications. The light-month, roughly one-twelfth of a light-year, is also used occasionally for approximate measures. The Hayden Planetarium specifies the light month more precisely as 30 days of light travel time.
  
  Light travels approximately one foot in a nanosecond; the term "light-foot" is sometimes used as an informal measure of time.