The average distance between the Earth and the sun is referr…
The average distance between the Earth and the sun is referred to as one Astronomical Unit (AU), which is approximately 149,600,000 km – or about 93 million miles. The measure is an average because throughout the year the distance between the Earth and the sun changes. This is because the Earth travels around the sun in an elliptical orbit shaped like an oval rather than a circle. The Astronomical Unit is a relative measure of how close objects are in the solar system. Consider the distance between the Earth and its moon, which is approximately 380,000 km. If we multiply by the ratio of AU to kilometers, we can convert this distance to Astronomical Units.