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First we estimate the distance to the moon, which is obviously closer than the sun, because the moon periodically blocks sunlight during solar eclipses.
The ancient greeks measured the amount of time it took earth's shadow to pass across the lunar surface during a lunar eclipse. The ratio of this time to the entire lunar orbit indicated the moon was 30 earth diameters away. Later they were able to determine the earth's diameter to be roughly 8000 miles, making the moon about 240,000 miles off.
Aristarchus, using the angles of the earth, moon and sun when the moon was half full, estimated the sun to be 20 times further away than the moon. He was off by nearly a factor of 20--the sun is actually 389 times further away.
This was more carefully calculated using the amount of time it takes Venus to transit the sun, which it does about twice every century. The math for this is pretty hairy so I won't get into it.
The earth/sun distance averages roughly 93 million miles.
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How far from Earth is Jupiter?
1st, you need to know how far Jupiter is from the sun. 2nd, you know. Answer: it varies.
What is the distance between the earth and Jupiter?
*390,682,810 miles. If the Earth and Jupiter are not in a line with the sun with the sun in the middle, however, this answer will be incorrect.
How far away is the earth to the sun in centimeters?
The standard unit of measurement for the distance from the sun to the earth is one Astronomical Unit (AU). An AU, as defined by the International Astronomical Union, is about 149,597,871 km (92,955,807 miles). It is the mean distance between the sun and the earth.
Is the Earth always the same distance from the Sun and if not why not?
No, the distance between the sun and the earth varies continuously because the earth's orbit is elliptical not circular. Also the position of the sun changes in response to the gravitational pull of the planets orbiting it (especially massive Jupiter).
Is earth's distance of 1 AU from the sun's edge or center?
From the center. You should also bear in mind though, that 1AU is 149,597,870.691 kilometres which is slightly less than the mean distance between the Sun and the Earth.
How speed of rotation of earth depends on distance between earth and sun?
No dependency, when measured on Earth.
How is the distance from Earth and the sun measured?
by a parralax.
What is the distance of the sun called?
I think you mean the distance from the Earth to the Sun. This distance is measured in Astronomical Units (AU)
How is the distance of the sun from earth measured?
light years.
What are the distance the solar system is measured by?
Interplanetary distances are measured in either kilometers or in miles. For the distant planets, some measures are measured in Astronomical Units, where one AU is the distance between the Sun and the Earth. So, 1 AU = 93,000,000 miles.
An astronomical unit is the average distance between the?
One AU is the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
Why is the distace between earth and the sun measured in light minutes and the distance between neptune and the sun measured in light hours?
Because it only takes 8 minutes for sunlight to reach Earth, but it takes 4 hours to reach Neptune.
What is the distance measured from earth to the sun?
1 astronomical unit.
The distance between celestial bodies is usually measured in a unit known as?
Lightyears. The distance between the Sun and Earth is 1.49 lightyears (149 000 000 km)
When the distance between the earth and the sun is minimum?
The distance between the earth and the sun is about 150 million km .
Which of these does not contribute to the changing of seasons A distance between the Earth and Moon B distance between Earth and Sun C distance between Earth and Venus D alignment of the Universe?
distance between the earth and the sun.
What units are stellar distances expressed in?
Stellar distances are measured in light-years, which is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun.
