Question

Given below are two statements:
Statements 1: Astronomical unit (AU), Parsec (pc) and Light year (ly) are units for measuring astronomical distances.
Statement 2: The light of the above distances, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

• A. Both Statements 1 and 2 are correct.
• B. Both Statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.
• C. Statement I is correct but Statement II is incorrect.
• D. Statement I is incorrect but Statement II is correct.

Hint:

Remember the standard units used in astronomy: AU for distances within the solar system, parsecs for larger distances, and light years for even larger distances.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

To solve this problem, we need to understand the meaning and purpose of the units mentioned: Astronomical Unit (AU), Parsec (pc), and Light Year (ly).

1. Astronomical Unit (AU): An Astronomical Unit is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun, approximately 149.6 million kilometers. It is primarily used to describe distances within our solar system.
2. Light Year (ly): A Light Year is the distance that light travels in vacuum in one year, which is about 9.461 trillion kilometers. It is often used to express distances to stars and galaxies.
3. Parsec (pc): A Parsec is equivalent to about 3.262 light years. It is used in astronomy to measure large distances to astronomical objects outside the solar system. One parsec corresponds to the distance at which the mean radius of the earth's orbit subtends an angle of one arcsecond.

Now, let's evaluate the given statements:

1. Statement 1: "Astronomical unit (AU), Parsec (pc) and Light year (ly) are units for measuring astronomical distances." This statement is correct as all three units are indeed used to measure astronomical distances, though they are used at different scales.
2. Statement 2: The summary about these units in terms of their usage in measuring astronomical distances is correctly inferred in the statement. This context correlating these terms is also correct.

Therefore, based on the explanations above, the most appropriate answer is:

Both Statements 1 and 2 are correct.