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Earth at seasonal points in its orbit (not to scale) Earth orbit (yellow) compared to a circle (gray) Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi), or 8.317 light-minutes, [1] in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere.
Extra-close oppositions of Mars happen every 15 to 17 years, when we pass between Mars and the Sun around the time of its perihelion (closest point to the Sun in orbit). The minimum distance between Earth and Mars has been declining over the years, and in 2003 the minimum distance was 55.76 million km, nearer than any such encounter in almost ...
This is because the distance between Earth and the Sun is not fixed (it varies between 0.983 289 8912 and 1.016 710 3335 au) and, when Earth is closer to the Sun , the Sun's gravitational field is stronger and Earth is moving faster along its orbital path. As the metre is defined in terms of the second and the speed of light is constant for all ...
149.6 Gm (93.0 million mi; 1.0 au) – average distance between the Earth and the Sun – the original definition of the astronomical unit; 199 Gm (1.3 au) – diameter of Rho Persei, an asymptotic giant branch star, fusing carbon into neon in a shell surrounding an inert core. [179] 228 Gm (1.5 au) – distance between Mars and the Sun
The average diameter of the orbit of the Earth relative to the Sun. Encompasses the Sun, Mercury and Venus. [18] Inner Solar System ~6.54 AU 9.78×10 8: 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 ...
Evolution of the solar luminosity, radius and effective temperature compared to the present-day Sun. After Ribas (2009) [3] The uncrewed SOHO spacecraft was used to measure the radius of the Sun by timing transits of Mercury across the surface during 2003 and 2006. The result was a measured radius of 696,342 ± 65 kilometres (432,687 ± 40 miles).
The asteroid and comet belts orbit the Sun from the inner rocky planets into outer parts of the Solar System, interstellar space. [16] [17] [18] An astronomical unit, or AU, is the distance from Earth to the Sun, which is approximately 150 billion meters (93 million miles). [19] Small Solar System objects are classified by their orbits: [20] [21]
Distance: Time: one foot: 1.0 ns: one metre: 3.3 ns: from geostationary orbit to Earth: 119 ms: the length of Earth's equator: 134 ms: from Moon to Earth: 1.3 s: from Sun to Earth (1 AU) 8.3 min: one light-year: 1.0 year: one parsec: 3.26 years: from the nearest star to Sun (1.3 pc) 4.2 years: from the nearest galaxy to Earth: 70 000 years ...