Earth Orbit Semi-Major Axis

a,orb=1.495982612×1011 ma_{\oplus,\mathrm{orb}} = 1.495982612 \times 10^{11}\ \text{m}
Value1.495982612e11 m
StatusConventional / typical value
SourceJPL Keplerian elements for the Earth–Moon barycentre, epoch J2000
CategoriesAstronomicalsolar-systemearth
a_earth_orbit in every length unit
femtometer1.4959826e+26 fm
picometer1.4959826e+23 pm
nanometer1.4959826e+20 nm
micrometer1.4959826e+17 μm
millimeter149,598,260,000,000 mm
centimeter14,959,826,000,000 cm
decimeter1,495,982,600,000 dm
meter149,598,260,000 m
kilometer149,598,260 km
inch5,889,695,300,000 in
foot490,807,940,000 ft
yard163,602,650,000 yd
mile92,956,050 mi
nautical mile80,776,599 nmi
astronomical unit1.0000026 AU
light-year0.000015812549 ly
parsec0.0000048481495 pc

Learning zone

It is worth stating plainly that the astronomical unit and Earth's mean distance from the Sun are two different things. The au was defined in terms of Earth's orbit historically, but since 2012 it is just a fixed number of metres. Earth's semi-major axis is a measured orbital element that drifts by parts per million as Jupiter, Venus and the rest tug on us, and the value quoted here — 1.000 002 61 au for the Earth–Moon barycentre at J2000 — is a mean over those perturbations, not a permanent property.

"Mean distance" also hides an ambiguity. The semi-major axis is the average of perihelion (147.10 million km) and aphelion (152.10 million km), but the time-averaged distance is slightly larger still, because Earth spends more of the year on the slow outer part of the ellipse.