To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following list describes various lengths between 1.6×10−35 meters and
10
10
10
122
meters.
To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths starting at 106 m (1 Mm or 1,000 km).
1 megametre is equal to:
1 E+6 m (one million metres)
approximately 621.37 miles
Side of square with area 1,000,000 km2
Human-defined scales and structures
2.100 Mm – Length of proposed gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan
2.288 Mm – Length of the official Alaska Highway when it was built in the 1940s
3.069 Mm – Length of Interstate 95 (from Houlton, Maine to Miami, Florida)
3.846 Mm – Length of U.S. Route 1 (from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida)
5.007 Mm – Estimated length of Interstate 90 (Seattle, Washington to Boston, Massachusetts)
5.614 Mm – Length of the Australian Dingo Fence
7.821 Mm – Length of the Trans-Canada Highway, the world's longest national highway (from Victoria, British Columbia to St. John's, Newfoundland)
8.836 Mm – Road distance between Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and Key West, Florida, the endpoints of the U.S. road network
8.852 Mm – Aggregate length of the Great Wall of China, including trenches, hills and rivers
9.259 Mm – Length of the Trans-Siberian railway
The Munda Biddi Trail in WA, Australia is over 1000 km long - the world's longest off-road cycle trail
1.200 Mm – the length of the Paris–Brest–Paris bicycling event
Several endurance auto races are, or were, run for 1,000 km:
Bathurst 1000
1000 km Brands Hatch
1000 km Buenos Aires
1000 km Donington
1000 km Monza
1000 km Nürburgring
1000 km Silverstone
1000 km Spa
1000 km Suzuka
1000 km Zeltweg
1.010 Mm – Distance from San Diego to El Paso as the crow flies
2.000 Mm – Distance from Beijing to Hong Kong as the crow flies
2.800 Mm – Narrowest width of Atlantic Ocean (Brazil-West Africa)
2.850 Mm – Length of the Danube river
2.205 Mm – Length of Sweden's total land boundaries
2.515 Mm – Length of Norway's total land boundaries
3.690 Mm – Length of the Volga river, longest in Europe
4.350 Mm – Length of the Yellow River
4.715 Mm – Length of the Nile
4.800 Mm – Widest width of Atlantic Ocean (U.S.-Northern Africa)
5.100 Mm – Distance from Dublin to New York as the crow flies
6.270 Mm – Length of the Mississippi-Missouri River system
6.380 Mm – Length of the Yangtze River
6.762 Mm – Length of the Amazon system, longest on Earth
8.200 Mm – Distance from Dublin to San Francisco as the crow flies
1.000 Mm – Estimated shortest axis of triaxial dwarf planet Haumea
1.186 Mm – Diameter of Charon, the largest moon of Pluto
1.280 Mm – Diameter of the trans-Neptunian object 50000 Quaoar
1.436 Mm – Diameter of Iapetus, one of Saturn's major moons
1.578 Mm – Diameter of Titania, the largest of Uranus' moons
1.960 Mm – Estimated longest axis of Haumea
2.320 Mm – Diameter of Pluto
2.400 Mm – Diameter of the dwarf planet Eris, the largest trans-Neptunian object found to date
2.707 Mm – Diameter of Triton, largest moon of Neptune
3.122 Mm – Diameter of Europa, the smallest Galilean satellite of Jupiter
3.475 Mm – Diameter of Earth's Moon
3.643 Mm – Diameter of Io, a moon of Jupiter
4.821 Mm – Diameter of Callisto, a moon of Jupiter
4.879 Mm – Diameter of Mercury
5.150 Mm – Diameter of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn
5.262 Mm – Diameter of Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system
6.366 Mm – Radius of Earth
6.792 Mm – Diameter of Mars
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists lengths starting at 107 metres (10 megametres or 10,000 kilometres).
10 megametres (10 Mm) is
6,215 miles.
side of a square of area 100,000,000 square kilometres (km2)
radius of a circle of area 314,159,265 km2
Human-defined scales and structures
11.085 Mm – Length of the Kiev-Vladivostok railway, a longer variant of the Trans-Siberian railway
13.300 Mm – Length of roads being rehabilitated and widened under the National Highway Development Project (launched in 1998) in India
39.000 Mm – Length of the SEA-ME-WE 3 optical submarine telecommunications cable, joining 39 points between Norden, Germany and Okinawa, Japan
67.000 Mm – Total length of National Highways in India
10 Mm – Approximate altitude of the outer boundary of the exosphere
10.001 Mm – Length of the meridian arc from the North Pole to the Equator (the original definition of the metre was based on this length).
60.000 Mm – Total length of the mid-ocean ridges
12.000 Mm – Diameter of Sirius B, a white dwarf
12.104 Mm – Diameter of Venus
12.742 Mm – Diameter of Earth
12.900 Mm – Minimum distance of the meteoroid 2004 FU162 from the center of Earth on March 31, 2004, closest on record
14.000 Mm – Smallest diameter of Jupiter's Great Red Spot
34.770 Mm – Minimum distance of the asteroid 99942 Apophis on April 13, 2029 from the center of Earth
35.786 Mm – Altitude of geostationary orbit
40.005 Mm – Polar circumference of the Earth
40.077 Mm – Equatorial circumference of the Earth
49.528 Mm – Diameter of Neptune
51.118 Mm – Diameter of Uranus
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists lengths starting at 108 metres (100 megametres or 100,000 kilometres or 62,150 miles).
102 Mm – Diameter of HD 149026 b, an unusually dense Jovian planet
111.191 Mm – 20,000 (nautical, British) leagues (see Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea)
120 Mm – Diameter of Saturn
140 Mm – Diameter of Jupiter
174 Mm – Diameter of OGLE-TR-122b, the smallest known star
180 Mm – Diameter of TrES-4, the largest known planet
196 Mm – Diameter of Proxima Centauri, a typical red dwarf
299.792 Mm – One light second; the distance light travels in vacuum in one second (see speed of light)
384.4 Mm (238,855 mi) – Average Earth-Moon distance
To help compare different distances this page lists lengths starting at 109 metres (1 gigametre (Gm) or 1 billion metres).
1.4 Gm – Diameter of Sun
1.5 Gm – (proposed) Expected orbit from Earth of the James Webb Space Telescope
2.19 Gm – Closest approach of Comet Lexell to Earth, happened on 1 July 1770; closest comet approach on record
3 Gm – Total length of "wiring" in the human brain.
4.2 Gm – Diameter of Algol B
5.0 Gm – Closest approach of Comet Halley to Earth, happened on 10 April 837
5.0 Gm – (proposed) Size of the arms of the giant triangle shaped Michelson interferometer of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) planned to start observations in or around 2015.
7.9 Gm – Diameter of Gamma Orionis
9.0 Gm – Estimated diameter of the event horizon of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way galaxy
To help compare different distances this page lists lengths starting at 1010 metres (10 gigametres (Gm) or 10 million kilometres, or 0.07 Astronomical units).
15 Gm – Closest distance of Comet Hyakutake from Earth
18 Gm – One light-minute (see yellow sphere in right-hand diagram)
24 Gm – Radius of a heliostationary orbit
46 Gm – Perihelion distance of Mercury (yellow ellipse on the right)
55 Gm – 60,000-year perigee of Mars (last achieved on August 27, 2003)
58 Gm – Average passing distance between Earth and Mars at the moment they overtake each other in their orbits
61 Gm – Diameter of Aldebaran, an orange giant star (large star on right)
70 Gm – Aphelion distance of Mercury
76 Gm – Neso's apocentric distance; greatest distance of a natural satellite from its parent planet (Neptune)
86 Gm – Diameter of Rigel, a blue supergiant star (largest star on right)
To help compare distances at different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths starting at 1011 metres (100 Gm or 100 million kilometres or 0.7 astronomical units).
109 Gm – 0.7 AU – Distance between Venus and the Sun
149.6 Gm (93.0 million mi) – 1.0 AU – Distance between the Earth and the Sun - the definition of the astronomical unit
180 Gm – 1.2 AU – Maximum diameter of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole in the center of Milky Way galaxy
228 Gm – 1.5 AU – Distance between Mars and the Sun
570 Gm – 3.8 AU – Length of the tail of Comet Hyakutake measured by Ulysses; the actual value could be much higher
591 Gm – 4.0 AU – Minimum distance between the Earth and Jupiter
624 Gm – 4.2 AU – Diameter of Antares
780 Gm – 5.2 AU – Distance between Jupiter and the Sun
965 Gm – 6.4 AU – Maximum distance between the Earth and Jupiter
To help compare different distances, this page lists lengths starting at 1012 m (1 Tm or 1 billion km or 6.7 astronomical units). Less than 1 Terameter from earth to the Sun
1.079 Tm – 7.2 AU – One light-hour
1.4 Tm – 9.5 AU – Distance between Saturn and the Sun
1.97 Tm – 13.2 AU – revised estimated diameter of VY Canis Majoris. The newly improved measurement was 30% lower than the previous 2007 estimate.
2.0 Tm – 13.4 AU – Diameter of one of the largest known stars, KY Cygni
2.4 Tm – 15.9 AU – estimated diameter of UY Scuti, the largest known star as of 2013
2.8 Tm – 18.72 AU – previous estimated diameter of VY Canis Majoris, as of 2007. The size was revised in 2012 through improved measurement techniques.
2.9 Tm – 19.4 AU – Distance between Uranus and the Sun
4.4 Tm – 29.4 AU – Perihelion distance of Pluto
4.5 Tm – 30.1 AU – Distance between Neptune and the Sun
4.5 Tm – 30.1 AU – Inner radius of the Kuiper belt
5.7 Tm – 38.1 AU – Perihelion distance of Eris
7.3 Tm – 48.8 AU – Aphelion distance of Pluto
7.5 Tm – 50.1 AU – Outer radius of the Kuiper Belt, inner boundary of the Oort Cloud
To help compare different distances this page lists lengths starting at 1013 m (10 Tm or 10 billion km or 67 astronomical units).
11.1 Tm – 74.2 AU – Distance that Voyager 1 began detecting returning particles from termination shock
11.4 Tm – 76.2 AU – Perihelion distance of 90377 Sedna
12.1 Tm – 70 to 90 AU – Distance to termination shock (Voyager 1 crossed at 94 AU)
12.9 Tm – 86.3 AU – Distance to 90377 Sedna in March 2014
13.2 Tm – 88.6 AU – Distance to Pioneer 11 in March 2014
14.1 Tm – 94.3 AU – Estimated radius of the solar system
14.4 Tm – 96.4 AU – Distance to Eris in March 2014 (now near its aphelion)
15.1 Tm – 101 AU – Distance to heliosheath
16.5 Tm – 111 AU – Distance to Pioneer 10 in March 2014
16.6 Tm - 111.2AU - Distance to Voyager 2 in May 2016
20.0 Tm - 135 AU - Distance to Voyager 1 in May 2016
25.9 Tm – 172 AU – One light-day
55.7 Tm – 371 AU – Aphelion distance of the comet Hale-Bopp
To help compare different distances this page lists lengths starting at 1014 m (100 Tm or 100,000 million km or 670 astronomical units).
146 Tm – 975 AU – Aphelion distance of 90377 Sedna
172 TM – 1150 AU – Schwarzschild diameter of H1821+643, one of the most massive black holes known
181 Tm – 1210 AU – One light-week
653 Tm – 4367 AU – Aphelion distance of comet Hyakutake (current orbit)
757 Tm – 5059 AU – radius of the Stingray Nebula
777 Tm – 5180 AU – One light-month
To help compare different distances this page lists lengths starting at 1015 m (1 Pm or 1,000,000 million km or 6685 astronomical units (AU) or 0.11 light years).
1.0 Pm = 0.105702341 light years
1.9 Pm ± .5 Pm = 12,000 AU = 0.2 light year radius of Cat's Eye Nebula's inner core
4.7 Pm = 30,000 AU = half light year diameter of Bok globule Barnard 68
7.5 Pm – 50,000 AU – Possible outer boundary of Oort cloud (other estimates are 75,000 to 125,000 or even 189,000 AU (1.6, 2, and 3 light years, respectively))
7.7 Pm – 52,000 AU – Aphelion distance of the Great Daylight Comet of 1910
9.5 Pm – 63,241.1 AU – One light year, the distance travelled by light in one year
To help compare different distances this page lists lengths starting at 1016 m (10 Pm or 66,800 AU, 1.06 light years).
15 Pm – 1.59 light years – Possible outer radius of Oort cloud
20 Pm – 2.11 light years – maximum extent of influence of the Sun's gravitational field
30.9 Pm – 3.26 light years – 1 parsec
39.9 Pm – 4.22 light years – Distance to Proxima Centauri (nearest star to Sun)
81.3 Pm – 8.59 light years – Distance to Sirius
To help compare different distances this page lists lengths between 1017 m (100 Pm or 11 light years) and 1018 m (106 light years).
110 Pm – 12 light years – Distance to Tau Ceti
230 Pm – 24 light years – Diameter of the Orion Nebula
240 Pm – 25 light years – Distance to Vega
260 Pm – 27 light years – Distance to Chara, a star approximately as bright as our Sun. Its faintness gives us an idea how our Sun would appear when viewed from even so close a distance as this.
350 Pm – 37 light years – Distance to Arcturus
400 Pm – 42 light years – Distance to Capella
620 Pm – 65 light years – Distance to Aldebaran
This list includes distances between 1 and 10 exametres (1018 m). To help compare different distances this page lists lengths between 1018 m (1 Em or 105.7 light years) and 1019 m (1057 light years).
1.4 Em – 145 light years – Diameter of Messier Object 13 (a typical globular cluster)
1.6 Em – 172 ± 12.5 light years – Diameter of Omega Centauri (one of the largest known globular clusters, perhaps containing over a million stars)
3.1 Em – 310 light years – Distance to Canopus according to Hipparcos
6.1 Em – 640 light years – Distance to Betelgeuse according to Hipparcos
6.2 Em – 650 light years – Distance to the Helix Nebula, located in the constellation Aquarius
7.3 Em – 730 light years – Distance to Rigel according to Hipparcos
9 Em – 1000 light years – Diameter of the Tarantula Nebula
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists distances starting at 10 Em (1019 m or 1,100 light years).
13 Em – 1,300 light years – Distance to the Orion Nebula
14 Em – 1,500 light years – Approximate thickness of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy at the Sun's location
30.8568 Em – 3,261.6 light years – 1 kiloparsec
31 Em – 3,200 light years – Distance to Deneb according to Hipparcos
46 Em – 4,900 light years – Distance to OGLE-TR-56, the first extrasolar planet discovered using the transit method
47 Em – 5,000 light years – Distance to the Boomerang nebula, coldest place known (1 K)
53 Em – 5,600 light years – Distance to the globular cluster M4 and the extrasolar planet PSR B1620-26 b within it
61 Em – 6,500 light years – Distance to Perseus Spiral Arm (next spiral arm out in the Milky Way galaxy)
71 Em – 7,500 light years – Distance to Eta Carinae
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists distances starting at 100 Em (1020 m or 11,000 light years).
150 Em – 16,000 light years – Diameter of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way
200 Em – 21,500 light years – Distance to OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, the most distant and the most Earth-like planet known
240 Em – 25,000 light years – Distance to the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy
260 Em – 28,000 light years – Distance to the center of the Galaxy
830 Em – 88,000 light years – Distance to the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy
950 Em – 100,000 light years – Diameter of the disc of the Milky Way Galaxy
The zettametre (SI symbol: Zm) is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1021 metres.
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists distances starting at 1 Zm (1021 m or 110,000 light years).
1.7 Zm – 179,000 light years – Distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud, largest satellite galaxy of the Milky Way
2.0 Zm – 210,000 light years – Distance to the Small Magellanic Cloud
2.8 Zm – 300,000 light years – Distance to the Intergalactic Wanderer, one of the most distant globular clusters of Milky Way
8.5 Zm – 900,000 light years – Distance to the Leo I Dwarf Galaxy, farthest known Milky Way satellite galaxy
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists distances starting at 10 Zm (1022 m or 1.1 million light years).
24 Zm – 2.5 million light years – Distance to the Andromeda Galaxy
30.8568 Zm – 3.2616 million light years – 1 megaparsec
40 Zm – 4.2 million light years – Distance to the IC 10, a distant member of the Local Group of galaxies
49.2 Zm – 5.2 million light years – Width of the Local Group of galaxies
57 Zm – 6 million light years – Diameter of the supergiant elliptical galaxy IC 1101
95 Zm – 10 million light years – Distance to the Sculptor Galaxy in the Sculptor Group of galaxies
95 Zm – 10 million light years – Distance to the Maffei 1, the nearest giant elliptical galaxy in the Maffei 1 Group
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists distances starting at 100 Zm (1023 m or 11 million light years).
140 Zm – 15 million light years – Distance to Centaurus A galaxy
250 Zm – 27 million light years – Distance to the Pinwheel Galaxy
280 Zm – 30 million light years – Distance to the Sombrero Galaxy
570 Zm – 60 million light years – Approximate distance to the Virgo cluster, nearest galaxy cluster
620 Zm – 65 million light years – Approximate distance to the Fornax cluster
800 Zm – 85 million light years – Approximate distance to the Eridanus cluster
The yottametre or yottameter in the US ( SI symbol: Ym) is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1024 metres
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists distances starting at 1 Ym (1024 m or 105.702 million light years).
1.2 Ym – 127 million light years – Distance to the closest observed gamma ray burst GRB 980425
1.3 Ym – 137 million light years – Distance to the Centaurus Cluster of galaxies, the nearest large supercluster
1.9 Ym – 201 million light years – Diameter of the Local Supercluster
2.3 Ym – 225 to 250 million light years – Distance light travels in vacuum in one galactic year
2.8 Ym – 296 million light years – Distance to the Coma Cluster
3.2 Ym – 338 million light years – Distance to the Stephan's Quintet
4.7 Ym – 496 million light years – Length of the CfA2 Great Wall, one of the largest observed superstructures in the Universe
6.1 Ym – 645 million light years – Distance to the Shapley Supercluster
9.5 Ym – 996 million light years – Diameter of the Eridanus Supervoid
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists distances starting at 10 Ym (1025 m or 1.1 billion light-years). At this scale, expansion of the universe becomes significant. Distance of these objects are derived from their measured redshifts, which depends on the cosmological models used.
13.7 Ym – 1.37 billion light-years – Length of the Sloan Great Wall
18 Ym – redshift 0.16 – 1.9 billion light-years – Distance to the quasar 3C 273 (light travel distance)
33 Ym – 3.5 billion light-years – Maximum distance of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (light travel distance)
37.8 Ym – 4 billion light-years – Length of the Huge-LQG, one of the largest and most massive known cosmic structure.
75 Ym – redshift 0.95 – 8 billion light-years – Approximate distance to the supernova SN 2002dd in the Hubble Deep Field North (light travel distance)
85 Ym – redshift 1.6 – 9 billion light-years – Approximate distance to the gamma ray burst GRB 990123 (light travel distance)
94.6 Ym – 10 billion light-years – Approximate distance to quasar OQ172
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists distances greater than 100 Ym (1026 m or 11 billion light years). At this scale, expansion of the universe becomes significant. Distance of these objects are derived from their measured redshifts, which depends on the cosmological models used.
Distances longer than 100 Ym
130 Ym – redshift 6.41 – 13 billion light years – Light travel distance (LTD) to the quasar SDSS J1148+5251
130 Ym – redshift 1000 – 13.7 billion light years – Distance (LTD) to the source of the cosmic microwave background radiation; radius of the observable universe measured as a LTD
260 Ym – 27.4 billion light years – Diameter of the observable universe (double LTD)
440 Ym – 46 billion light years – Radius of the universe measured as a comoving distance.
590 Ym – 62 billion light years – Cosmological event horizon: the largest comoving distance from which light will ever reach us (the observer) at any time in the future
<1,000 Ym (1 kYm in older usage, or 1 brontometer in unofficial nomenclature) – Size of universe beyond the cosmic light horizon, depending on its curvature; if the curvature is zero (i.e. the universe is spatially flat), the value can be infinite (see shape of the Universe)
