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The distance between the Earth and the Sun, known as an astronomical unit (AU), was not fixed until 2012 when it was set at 149,597,870.7 kilometers. The difficulty in fixing the number was due to general relativity, the decreasing mass of the Sun, and reluctance to initiate changes. The first recorded measurement in 1672 was 87 million miles, which was accurate. A fixed AU requires updates in older computer programs.
An astronomical unit (AU) is the distance between the Earth and its sun, but until 2012, the actual number was not fixed. Instead, the astronomers relied on a complex formula based on several measurements to determine the distance between the two celestial bodies. In August 2012, the International Astronomical Union set the distance at 149,597,870.7 kilometers (about 93 million miles).
Read more about astronomical measurements:
Reasons for the difficulty finding a fixed number included general relativity, the decreasing mass of the Sun, and the reluctance of some astronomers to initiate changes.
The first recorded measurement of the Earth-Sun distance was made in 1672. Researchers at that time calculated the distance to be 87 million miles (140 million km), which was actually quite accurate.
Some people have noted that creating a fixed astronomical unit creates the need for updates in computer programs that use an older measurement of AU.
