Convert astronomical units to meters

Explanation

From this page you can convert astronomical units to meters (or au to m) simply, by using the application above.

In case you are wondering, to convert from astronomical units to meters you need to multiply by 149597870700. This factor is calculated using the respective definitions of the two units you can find below.

Formula

1 au=149597870700 m

astronomical unitsau

dimension	length
symbol	au

The astronomical unit (au) is a unit of length used in astronomy.

One astronomical unit is roughly equal to the distance between Earth and the Sun.

The unit is used to measure distances at the scale of solar systems. For example, Jupiter is approximately 5 au from the Sun.

Definition of the astronomical unit

The astronomical unit is defined as exactly 149597870700 meters.

International Astronomical Union

Equivalences

One astronomical unit is approximately equal to:

Some Facts

If the Sun were to be erased from reality, we would realise it 8 minutes and 20 seconds later, it is the time that light and gravity from the Sun take to reach us. During all that time, the Earth would continue on its orbit around an empty part of space as if nothing happened.

Astronomical Distances Units

astronomical unit	au
parsec	pc
kiloparsec	kpc
megaparsec	Mpc
gigaparsec	Gpc

Related Conversions

metersm

dimension	length
system	International system of units (SI)
symbol	m

The meter (m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units.

Definition of the meter

It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the speed of light in vacuum c to be 299792458 when expressed in the unit m s^–1, where the second is defined in terms of the caesium frequency ∆ν_Cs.

Definition from the BIPM: Unit of length

In layman's terms, one meter is the distance traveled by light in 1/299 792 458 of a second.

Equivalences

One meter is equivalent to:

Metric length units

femtometer	fm	0.000 000 000 000 001
picometer	pm	0.000 000 000 001
nanometer	nm	0.000 000 001
micrometer	µm	0.000 001
millimeter	mm	0.001
centimeter	cm	0.01
decimeter	dm	0.1
meter	m	1
dekameter	dam	10
hectometer	hm	100
kilometer	km	1000
megameter	Mm	1 000 000
gigameter	Gm	1 000 000 000
terameter	Tm	1 000 000 000 000
petameter	Pm	1 000 000 000 000 000
exameter	Em	1 000 000 000 000 000 000

The International System of Units

The International System of Units or SI (from the French Système international (d'unité)), also called metric system in the U.S., is a coherent system of units that was published 1960. It is official in nearly every country.

The General Conference on Weights and Measures (Conférence générale des poids et mesures) is tasked with overseeing the SI.