Light seconds, light years, light centuries: How to measure extreme distances – Yuan-Sen Ting
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-we-measure-distances-in-space-yuan-sen-ting
When we look at the sky, we have a flat, two-dimensional view. So how do astronomers figure the distances of stars and galaxies from Earth? Yuan-Sen Ting shows us how trigonometric parallaxes, standard candles and more help us determine the distance of objects several billion light years away from Earth.
Lesson by Yuan-Sen Ting, animation by TED-Ed.



![[ID: QnY2N6D3w38] Youtube Automatic](https://myaiu.tv/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/id-qny2n6d3w38-youtube-automatic-236x133.jpg)
![[ID: 1b0GaWEhrKM] Youtube Automatic](https://myaiu.tv/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/id-1b0gawehrkm-youtube-automatic-236x133.jpg)
![[ID: 5CH8MnBMqig] Youtube Automatic](https://myaiu.tv/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/id-5ch8mnbmqig-youtube-automatic-236x133.jpg)
![[ID: lp670Q8GbvU] Youtube Automatic](https://myaiu.tv/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/id-lp670q8gbvu-youtube-automatic-236x133.jpg)
![[ID: 43-fvdzHR20] Youtube Automatic](https://myaiu.tv/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/id-43-fvdzhr20-youtube-automatic-236x133.jpg)
![[ID: GVouoljRyQE] Youtube Automatic](https://myaiu.tv/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/id-gvouoljryqe-youtube-automatic-236x133.jpg)