Hi. The Sun is about 149,600,000 km (92,957,000 miles) from Earth. That is really far. If you were driving a car at 55 mph it would take over 192 years to drive that far!

Terry

Mean distance of the Earth from the Sun is called the "Astronomical Unit" (1 AU). Astronomical unit is about 149 598 000

kilometers or 92 955 888 miles.

A Greek philosopher Aristarchus (living around 300 BC) made one of the

earliest attemps to estimate the sizes and distances of the Sun and the Moon. He estimated that the Sun was 20 times further away

than the Moon. Today with more precise measurements we know that the real distance of the

Sun is actually about 400 times that of the Moon. The closest star to the Earth (other than the Sun) Proxima Centauri is

about 300,000 times further than the Sun. So distances in the universe are truly huge!

The distance between the Sun and the Earth is called the Astronomical Unit (AU). Astronomical unit is 92 955 888 miles or

149 598 000 kilometers. A Greek philosopher Aristarchus living around 300 BC made one of the first attemps to estimate the

sizes and distances of the Sun and the Moon. He estimated that the Sun was only 20 times further away than the Moon.

Today with more advanced and precise measurements we know that the real distance to the Sun is about 400 times that of

the Moon. Nearest start to the Earth (other than the Sun) is Proxima centauri is about 300,000 times further away than the Sun.

So the distances in the universe are truly huge!

Hi!

Since Terry used the analogy of driving to the Sun, I couldn't resist figuring out how much gas money you would need. My little car gets about 30 miles per gallon on the highway going 55 mph, so I would need 3,098,570 gallons of gas to drive to the Sun. When I filled up my gas tank this morning, I paid $2.39 per gallon for the gas/ethanol blend - it's probably cheaper here in Iowa than where you live because of the ethanol subsidies to support Iowa farmers. At this price, you would need about $7.4 million worth of gas to drive your car to the Sun. Of course, you can't really drive to the Sun! Not only would it take over 192 years, but your car's engine probably wouldn't work too well in space. Also, there are no roads, no gas stations, and no rest areas for bathroom breaks between the Earth and the Sun! ;-)

Kris