Convert Mile (mi) to Megaparsec (Mpc) instantly.
About these units
Mile (mi)
The mile, equal to 5,280 feet, is a legacy of a long history of measurement stretching back to Roman times. Its ancestor, the Roman "mille passus" (thousand paces), established a rough distance of 1,480 meters, which evolved through medieval and early modern Europe into various regional miles. The English statute mile was standardized in 1593 and survives today in the United States, the United Kingdom (for roadways), and a few other territories. Despite being a non-metric unit, the mile remains deeply embedded in cultural and infrastructural systems. Road networks in the US are laid out with mile markers; athletic events include the famed "one-mile run"; and many people intuitively judge driving distances in miles. Aviation and international travel sometimes reference statute miles, though nautical miles dominate in navigation. Its long history and familiarity keep the mile relevant even in a metric world.
Megaparsec (Mpc)
A megaparsec is equal to one million parsecs, making it one of the principal units for describing intergalactic distances and the scale of the observable universe. Astronomers use Mpc to measure the distances between galaxies, galaxy groups, and galaxy clusters, as well as to express the scale of cosmic structures like the cosmic web. Megaparsecs are also central to cosmology because the Hubble constant — which describes the rate of cosmic expansion — is measured in units of kilometers per second per megaparsec. Thus, the Mpc sits at the heart of research on dark energy, large-scale structure formation, and the Big Bang. While hardly intuitive for everyday understanding, the megaparsec offers unmatched practicality for professional astronomy. It simplifies equations and visualization of the universe at the grandest scales.