You searched for: “astronomical unit”
astronomical unit, AU
1. The mean distance of the earth from the sun, which is 149,597,870 kilometers, or about 93 million miles.
2. A unit of length used by astronomers to measure distances in space.

One astronomical unit, or AU, is equal to the average distance between the earth and the sun, which is 92,955,806 miles or 149,597,870 kilometers.

This entry is located in the following unit: astro-, astr- (page 7)
Word Entries at Get Words: “astronomical unit”
astronomical unit, A.U. or a.u.
1. The average distance from the earth to the sun, which equals 149,597,870 kilometers or 92,955,800 miles.

For simplicity, an AU is usually rounded off to 93,000,000 miles or 149,637,000 kilometers.

2. An astronomical unit is used to describe planetary distances.

Light travels this distance in approximately 8.3 minutes.

This entry is located in the following units: Astronomy and related astronomical terms (page 3) Measurements and Mathematics Terms (page 2)