Distances in Space
Astronomical Unit (AU)

The average distance between
the sun and the earth.
1 AU is equal to 93 million miles
or 150 million kilometers
 An AU is a standard of distance
used within the solar system




Example:
Jupiter 5.2 AU
Light travels 1 AU in eight
minutes.
Sound travels 1 AU in 14 years
The Planets of Our Solar System
The Inner Planets
Sizes to Scale
Mercury
Venus
Earth and Moon
Mars
The Planets of Our Solar System
The Outer Planets
Jupiter
Saturn
Earth Included for Scale.
Uranus
Pluto
Neptune
SIZES AND DISTANCES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Sizes
Diameters of Solar System Members:
Sun =
1,392,000 km
Mean Distance from Sun
Mercury =
Venus =
Earth =
Mars =
Jupiter =
Saturn =
Uranus =
Neptune =
Pluto =
4,878 km
12,104 km
12,756 km
6,794 km
142,984 km
120,536 km
51,118 km
49,530 km
2,304 km
57,900,000 km = 0.387 AU
108,200,000 km = 0.723 AU
149,600,000 km = 1.000 AU
227,900,000 km = 1.524 AU
778,300,000 km = 5.203 AU
1,427,000,000 km = 10.07 AU
2,871,000,000 km = 19.19 AU
4,497,000,000 km = 30.06 AU
5,914,000,000 km = 39.53 AU
Earth’s Moon =
3,476 km
Mean Distance from Earth = 384,400 km
Fun Facts About the Planets

18 Mercury’s would fit inside the Earth.

Venus is always cloudy.

Earth is the only planet we know with life.

Mars is red because it is covered with rust.

A storm (hurricane) on Jupiter can swallow 2 Earths.

Each season on Saturn is more than seven years long.

By the time you get to Uranus, you are only halfway to Pluto.


Neptune is the windiest planet, with winds blowing
over 1,000 miles-per-hour.
Pluto is a ball of ice and rock and is a dwarf planet.
Light Year (LY)

The distance a ray of light
travels in one year
The speed of the ray of light
would be equal to:
 7.2 AU per hour or
 300,000 km/sec or
 186,000 miles/sec.

http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/SIMGuide2Galaxy_508.html
A Light Year is a standard unit of
measurement for interstellar
distances beyond the solar system.
 Milky Way Galaxy is approx. 100,000
LY across in distance

Nearest star to the sun is
Proxima or Alpha Centauri C
approx 4.22 LY
Proxima (or Alpha Centauri C) is a red dwarf
Alpha Centauri A is a yellow star
Alpha Centuari B is an orange star
Parsec
One parsec is equal to 3.26 light
years
 A parsec is a unit of
measurement used for distances
between very far structures in
the universe.
 Example:
distances between galaxies

Andromeda and Milky Way

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is
slightly less than 800 kpc or
800,000 parsecs away from
Earth.