One physicist is proposing we do away with units such as light-years, astronomical units, and arcseconds.

Astronomers use astronomical units to describe how far away objects in space are, mostly in relation to the sun or other stars. For instance, Jupiter is about 5.2 AU from the sun, according to NASA.

The International Astronomical Union, based in Paris, decided in 1976 to define the astronomical unit of time as one day of 86,400 seconds.

Instead of ending up with similar “astronomical” figures, scientists use units like light-years, parsecs, and astronomical units to help make sense of it all.

If you guessed the astronomical unit, you are correct. The au — the rough distance between the Earth and the Sun — was previously determined by a confusing calculation (“the radius of an ...

Without fanfare, astronomers have redefined one of the most important distances in the Solar System. The astronomical unit (au) — the rough distance from the Earth to the Sun — has been ...

The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center announced the discovery Monday. "Farout" is about 120 astronomical units away — that's 120 times the distance between Earth and the sun ...

THE world's top astronomical body has endorsed the definition of the Astronomical Unit (AU), a measurement used to calculate the distance between stars and planets.

Appearances aside, the stars are not eternal and the planets do not move with clockwork precision. For these reasons, one astronomer is proposing that his colleagues ditch the astronomical unit ...

THANKS to the indefatigable zeal of General de Nansouty and the engineer Vaussenat, a meteorological observatory has already been erected on the Pic du Midi.

“THE ASTRONOMICAL calculations made in ancient India and recorded in Puranas and other texts were not mythical but were based on scientific research which is corroborated even by the modern ...