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Earth orbit (yellow) compared to a circle (gray) Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (8.317 light minutes, 92.96 million mi) [1] in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes 365.256 days (1 sidereal year ), during which time Earth has traveled 940 million km ...
The astronomical unit (symbol: au, or AU) is a unit of length defined to be exactly equal to 149,597,870,700 m. Historically, the astronomical unit was conceived as the average Earth-Sun distance (the average of Earth's aphelion and perihelion), before its modern redefinition in 2012.
The closest encounter to the Sun so far predicted is the low-mass orange dwarf star Gliese 710 / HIP 89825 with roughly 60% the mass of the Sun. It is currently predicted to pass 0.1696 ± 0.0065 ly (10 635 ± 500 au) from the Sun in 1.290 ± 0.04 million years from the present, close enough to significantly disturb the Solar System's Oort cloud.
Noted objects. Known distant objects. See also. References. List of Solar System objects most distant from the Sun. Positions of known outer Solar System objects Sun Jupiter trojans (6,178) Scattered disc (>300) Giant planets J · S · U · N Centaurs (44,000) Kuiper belt (>1,000)(scale in AU; epoch as of January 2015; # of objects in ...
The boundary in the Solar System beyond which those volatile substances could coalesce is known as the frost line, and it lies at roughly five times the Earth's distance from the Sun. Orbits Animations of the Solar System's inner planets orbiting. Each frame represents 2 days of motion. Animations of the Solar System's outer planets orbiting ...
Aristarchus of Samos. Eratosthenes ( c. 276 – c. 194/195 BC ), a Greek mathematician who calculated the circumference of the Earth and also the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Hipparchus ( c. 190 – c. 120 BC ), a Greek mathematician who measured the radii of the Sun and the Moon as well as their distances from the Earth.
The average diameter of the orbit of the Earth relative to the Sun. Encompasses the Sun, Mercury and Venus. Inner Solar System ~6.54 AU 9.78×10 8: 8.99: Encompasses the Sun, the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and the asteroid belt. Cited distance is the 2:1 resonance with Jupiter, which marks the outer limit of the asteroid belt.
One astronomical unit (about 150 million kilometres; 93 million miles) is defined as the mean distance between the centres of the Sun and the Earth. The instantaneous distance varies by about ± 2.5 million km or 1.55 million miles as Earth moves from perihelion on ~ January 3rd to aphelion on ~ July 4th.