Solar radius is a unit of distance used to express the size of stars in astronomy equal to the current radius of the Sun:
The solar radius is approximately 695,500 kilometres (432,450 miles) or about 110 times the radius of the Earth, or 10 times the average radius of Jupiter. It varies slightly from pole to equator due to its rotation, which induces an oblateness of order 10 parts per million. See 1 gigametre for similar distances.
The SOHO spacecraft was used to measure the diameter of the Sun by timing transits of Mercury across the surface during 2003 and 2006. The result was a measured radius of 696,342 ± 65 kilometres (432,687 ± 40 miles).
Famous quotes containing the word solar:
“Senta: These boats, sir, what are they for?
Hamar: They are solar boats for Pharaoh to use after his death. They’re the means by which Pharaoh will journey across the skies with the sun, with the god Horus. Each day they will sail from east to west, and each night Pharaoh will return to the east by the river which runs underneath the earth.”
—William Faulkner (1897–1962)