MadSci Network: Astronomy
Query:

Re: What's one Astronimical Unit divided by one Light Year?

Date: Thu May 11 17:21:26 2000
Posted By: Pauline Barmby, grad student, Harvard University Astronomy Dept.
Area of science: Astronomy
ID: 958069685.As
Message:

Dave,

I can't think of any obvious deeper meaning to (1 AU)/(1 light-year).

However, there is meaning in (1 AU/1 parsec), where the parsec is 
another unit of "local" astronomical distances (1 parsec=3.26 ly).
(1 AU)/(1 parsec)=(1/206265) radians = 1 arcsecond; both radians
and parsecs are measures of angle, and in fact the parsec was
defined as the distance at which 1 arcsec subtends 1 AU. This 
has to do with the measurement of distances by parallax; see any
astronomy textbook for more detail.

Pauline



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