I'm trying to figure out how far away our solar system's Asteroid Belt is from Earth (From Earth to its leading edge) - and how wide it is. All of the sources that I've checked only use AU's instead of miles.
Only serious answers on the subject will be considered for 'Best Answer'.
2006-12-26 12:49:49 · 5 answers · asked by Oklahoman 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The correct term is "astronomical unit", not "astrological unit".
ASTRONOMICAL UNIT (AU)
1 AU = 149,597,870.691 kilometers
Definition: An Astronomical Unit is approximately the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is a derived constant and used to indicate distances within the solar system. Its formal definition is the radius of an unperturbed circular orbit a massless body would revolve about the sun in 2*(pi)/k days (i.e., 365.2568983.... days), where k is defined as the Gaussian constant exactly equal to 0.01720209895. Since an AU is based on radius of a circular orbit, one AU is actually slightly less than the average distance between the Earth and the Sun (approximately 150 million km or 93 million miles).
Historical Background: Tycho Brahe estimated the distance between the Sun and the Earth at 8 million kilometers (5 million miles). Later, Johannes Kepler estimated the AU was at 24 million kilometers (15 million miles). In 1672, Giovanni Cassini made a much better estimate by using Mars. By observing Mars from Paris and having a colleague, Jean Richer, also observe Mars at the same time in French Guiana in South America, Cassini determined the parallax of Mars. From that Cassini was able to calculate the distance from Earth to Mars, and then the distance from Earth to the Sun. Cassini calculated the AU to be at 140 million kilometers (87 million miles), which is lower, but very close to the modern day number.
2006-12-26 12:54:22 · answer #1 · answered by widevisiontechnologies.com 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Accepted AU is the mean or average distance from Earth to the Sun at 93 million miles.
2006-12-27 02:15:18 · answer #2 · answered by orion_1812@yahoo.com 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One AU is about 93 million miles.
2006-12-26 13:32:52 · answer #3 · answered by bldudas 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
AU is the distance from the Earth to the sun. This works out to be around 92million mi.
2016-05-23 09:13:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I get 93,798,481.681875
based on:
1au = 149597570.691 kilometers
1mile = 1.6 kilometers
2006-12-26 12:54:06 · answer #5 · answered by Tiff 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋