Re: Astronomical Unit (AU)

[David Emigh <emigh@COMMNET.EDU>]

Essentially you have two different ways of saying the same thing as long as
the earth's orbit is a perfect ellipse.  Since it isn't quite I prefer the
second.

David Emigh

"Polvani, Donald G." wrote:

> I have seen one astronomical unit (AU) defined as:
>
> 1)      the mean distance between the earth and the sun
> 2)      the semi-major axis of the earth's orbit around the sun
>
> Would someone please tell me the correct definition of one astronomical
> unit?
>
> Don Polvani
> Adjunct Faculty
> Anne Arundel Community College
> Arnold, MD