An astronomical unit (AU) is the distance between the Earth and its sun, but until 2012, the actual number wasn't fixed. Instead, astronomers relied on a complex formula based on several measurements for determining the distance between the two celestial bodies. In August 2012, the International Astronomical Union set the distance at 149,597,870.7 kilometers (about 93 million miles).
More about astronomical measurements:
tdwb7476
Post 3 |
@anon312449 - yes, essentially center to center. average and mean mean the same thing - but I don't think that's how the astronomer's would characterize how they came to this specific number. I think it's more complex than that. They say it's the best estimate of the original expression. |
anon312449
Post 1 |
Is this distance from the center of the earth to the center of the sun? Is this an average or mean of all the different distances throughout the year? |