Difference between revisions of "Astronomical Unit"

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An '''Astronomical Unit''' (AU) is most often used to measure distances within the Solar System. One astronomical unit is approximately  the distance between the Earth and the Sun but is defined as exactly 150 million km (150'000'000 km).
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An '''astronomical unit''' (AU) is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is defined as exactly 149,597,871 km, and equals approximately 8 light minutes. The unit is most commonly used to measure distances within our and other solar systems.<ref>McClure, Brian. 2017. [https://earthsky.org/space/what-is-the-astronomical-unit “What Is an Astronomical Unit?”] EarthSky. October 23, 2017. </ref>
  
For example [[Mars]] is about 2.5 AU from the Sun, which means it is 2.5 times the distance from the [[Earth]] to the Sun, or approximately 375 million km from the Sun (i.e. 150'000'000 km * 2.5).
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[[Mars]] is about 2.5 AU from the Sun, which means it is 2.5 times the distance from the [[Earth]] to the Sun, or approximately 375 million km from the Sun (149,597,871 km 2.5).
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== References ==
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<references />

Revision as of 22:59, 6 December 2019

An astronomical unit (AU) is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is defined as exactly 149,597,871 km, and equals approximately 8 light minutes. The unit is most commonly used to measure distances within our and other solar systems.[1]

Mars is about 2.5 AU from the Sun, which means it is 2.5 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun, or approximately 375 million km from the Sun (149,597,871 km • 2.5).

References

  1. McClure, Brian. 2017. “What Is an Astronomical Unit?” EarthSky. October 23, 2017.