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Hey, just a quick one.

If an AU is the distance between the sun and earth, roughly 93 million miles, make it the standard measure of 91-93 million miles, give or take (keeping it simple). How is the kieper belt at minimum 30 AU away, at roughly 1.8 billion miles? (it can be up to 50 AU)

Are they not missing near a billion miles off that number?

Does that mean the AU changes after a certain planet, or distance?

Just wishing to understand and perhaps start a debate on the matter. Would like to hear the different opinions or the straight up, nope with proof please, if anyone could shed some light?

Have…have you tried asking a scientist in the relevant field?

An Astronomical Unit is 149,597,870,700 meters.

An Astronomical Unit (AU) is always fixed at roughly 93 million miles (the distance from the Earth to the Sun)... it doesn't change or stretch as you go deeper into space.

You can go to NASA.com and email them and they will respond. They responded to a really dumb question I had about how you calculate launch trajectories with rockets and satellites in orbit.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
An Astronomical Unit (AU) is always fixed at roughly 93 million miles (the distance from the Earth to the Sun)... it doesn't change or stretch as you go deeper into space.

You can go to NASA.com and email them and they will respond. They responded to a really dumb question I had about how you calculate launch trajectories with rockets and satellites in orbit.

Thanks, Lathe Biosas. I'll send them an email.

I would like to hear how 93,000,000 miles × 30 = 2,790,000,000 miles. When they say it's 1,800,000,000 miles for 30 AU to the Kieper belt. (give or take a few at times)

Who is "they" in this context?

 Flinty wrote:
Who is "they" in this context?

Either people who deal in gold or Australians. Possibly Australians that deal in gold.

That would explain it. No way an Australian could be bothered counting up to 2 billion.

"The Kuiper Belt? Yeah, nah, she's a fair way, mate."

I think OP has misread or misunderstood something.

The Kuiper Belt appears to be cited as extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30m AU, and up to 50m AU from the Sun. So has a width (depth?) of 20m AU.

30m AU is roughly 2.8 billion miles. Not the 1.8 billion OP claimed.

And that seems to be the crux of it. OP has picked up a wonky number from somewhere.

All this is easily found online from reputable and reliable sources.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I think OP has misread or misunderstood something.

The Kuiper Belt appears to be cited as extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30m AU, and up to 50m AU from the Sun. So has a width (depth?) of 20m AU.

30m AU is roughly 2.8 billion miles. Not the 1.8 billion OP claimed.

And that seems to be the crux of it. OP has picked up a wonky number from somewhere.

All this is easily found online from reputable and reliable sources.

This. Asking because of this. Thank you, Mad Doc Grotsnik.

Was just asking, hence the question marks. No need for ridicule when asking if something is right or not. Say it, don't spray it.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
30m AU is roughly 2.8 billion miles.

You're talking crazy. Au is about $6141 in AU dollars so is $184,230,000,000.00 AU. Miles? No one knows what that is.