A-Z Popular New Space Search »
Space
 
Space
Astronomical Unit
Fermi Paradox
Karman Line
Spacecraft
Dyson Sphere
Generation Ship
Self-Replicating Spacecraft
top   »  science   »  space   »  astronomical unit

What is an Astronomical Unit?

 , updated on
An astronomical unit, or AU, is a unit of distance that's roughly based on the distance between the Earth and the Sun. This is approximately 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers.
The Earth and the Sun are at different distances over the course of a year, so the average is used. The exact average is surprisingly difficult to calculate and has changed a few times over the years. An Astronomical Unit is currently standardized to 149,597,870,700 meters.
Astronomical Units are a rare example of a measurement that is not at human scale. That is to say that most standard measurements evolved from things that humans directly experience. Astronomical Units are far beyond typical human experience and are used to explain distances that humans can only imagine. For example, the distance from the Sun to the center of the Milky Way is 1,700,000,000 AU.
Example Distances in Astronomical Units
Light-minute
0.12 AU
Light-year
63,241 AU
Distance to Sun
1 AU
Proxima Centauri
The nearest star outside our solar system
268,000 AU
Overview: Astronomical Unit
Area
Space
Definition
A unit of length used to measure distances in space defined by the average distance of the Sun from the Earth over a year.
Kilometers
149.597 Million
Miles
92.955 Million
Symbol
AU, au, ua
Related Concepts
Fermi Paradox
Spacecraft
Human Scale

Industries

This is the complete list of articles we have written about industries.
Advertising
Advertising Industry
Agriculture Industry
Art Business
Communications
Construction
Consulting
Creative Economy
Creative Industries
Education
Entertainment
Farming
Fashion
Film Industry
Finance
Financial Industry
Food Industry
Green Industry
Heavy Industry
Hospitality
Information Industry
Infrastructure
IT Industry
Light Industry
Manufacturing
Materials
Media
Media Services
Music
Primary Industry
Professional Services
Publishing
Restaurants
Retail
Robotics
Secondary Industry
Service Industry
Software
Space
Space
Sports Industry
Technology Industry
Telecom
Tertiary Sector
Transport Industry
Travel Industry
Video Game Industry
If you enjoyed this page, please consider bookmarking Simplicable.
 
Cite »

Fermi Paradox

The Fermi Paradox explained.

Spacecraft

A list of existing, proposed and hypothetical spacecraft.

Piggyback

An overview of piggybacks in transportation.

Orbit

The common types of orbit.

Speed Of Light

An overview of the speed of light with examples.

Space Industry

An overview of the space industry with examples.

Inertia

The definition of inertia with examples.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

An overview of the common wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Physics

A list of the branches of physics.

Space Things

A list of astronomical objects and phenomenon.

Types Of Artificial Intelligence

A few common types of artificial intelligence.

Technological Singularity

Technological singularity explained.

Affective Computing

Artificial intelligence and emotion.

Artificial Life

An overview of artificial life.

Machine Logic

How artificial intelligence can be illogical.

Deep Learning

A definition of deep learning with examples.

Supervised Learning vs Unsupervised Learning

The difference between supervised and unsupervised learning with an example.

Natural Language Processing

The common types of natural language processing.

Autonomous Systems

Common types of autonomous systems.

Artificial Intelligence Examples

Common examples of artificial intelligence.

Trending

The most popular articles on Simplicable in the past day.

New Articles

Recent posts or updates on Simplicable.
Site Map
Computing
Data Quality
Data Science
Design Thinking
Education
Engineering
Experiments
Fallacies
Falsifiability
Logic
Materials
Nature
Physics
Reliability Engineering
Research
Robotics
Science
Statistical Analysis
Systems
Systems Theory
Systems Thinking
Technology
Time
More ...
© 2010-2024 Simplicable. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of materials found on this site, in any form, without explicit permission is prohibited.

View credits & copyrights or citation information for this page.

Home About     Privacy Policy     Cookies Terms of Use     Contact Us Search


Cookies help us deliver our services. You have choices regarding these cookies. Please visit our privacy policy, cookie policy and consent tool to learn more.


Copyright 2002-2024 Simplicable. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed or translated. Report violations here.