megaparsec
/ˈmɛɡəˌpɑrsɛk/
noun
- A unit of distance used in astronomy, equal to one million parsecs (about 3.26 million light-years), used to measure vast distances between galaxies.
- The Andromeda Galaxy is about 0.78 megaparsecs away from Earth.
- Astronomers use megaparsecs to describe the scale of the observable universe.
- The distance between two galaxy clusters can be hundreds of megaparsecs.