S-5-6-2_Measuring
Measuring Distances in Space
Astronomical Units (AU)
Planet
Distance from Sun in AU
Mercury
0.39
Venus
0.72
Earth
1.00
Mars
1.52
Jupiter
5.20
Saturn
9.53
Uranus
19.2
Neptune
30.1
Earth’s distance from the Sun is about 150 million km, or 1 AU.
Astronomical Units vs. Light-Years
Astronomical Units (AU)
Light-years
The average distance between Earth and the Sun
The distance light travels in one Earth-year
Used to describe distances within our solar system
Used to describe distances outside our solar system,
between solar systems or galaxies
One light-year is equal to 9,460,730,472,580.8 km!
Source: www.solstation.com/orbits/solarsys.htm