Speed of light can be calculated, "often with less than 5% error". Interferometry is another method to find the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation for determining the speed of light. A coherent beam of light (e.g. from a laser), with a known frequency ("f"), is split to follow two paths and then recombined. By adjusting the path length while observing the interference pattern and carefully measuring the change in path length, the wavelength of the light ("λ") can be determined. The speed of light is then calculated using the equation "c" = "λf". Before the advent of laser technology, coherent radio sources were used
Light-year 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 metres or 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. Light-year The light-year