AU
From NewMarsWiki
Revision as of 14:11, 2 December 2005 by C M Edwards (talk)
The astronomical unit (AU) is a unit adopted for measurement of interplanetary scale distances.
1 AU = 149597870.691 kilometers.
One astronomical unit is defined as equal to the semi-major axis of a circular orbit with a period of one Earth year. Its value is only 1500 kilometers less than the semi-major axis of Earth's actual orbit - which is elliptical, not circular.
The AU is accepted as a non-standard SI unit by the international General Conference on Weights and Measures.
