A map of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) is a mid-ocean ridge, a divergent tectonic plate or constructive plate boundary located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world.
Since the distances are so large, we usually express them in Astronomical Units (AU). (An AU is the average distance from Earth to the Sun, about 150 million kilometers or 93 million miles.) The table below lists the distance of each planet from the Sun in AU. (Numbers were taken from this page.)
Definition: An Astronomical Unit is the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun. In 2012, the International Astronomical Union defined the distance to be 149,597,870,700 meters. Historical Background: Tycho Brahe estimated the distance between the Sun and the Earth at 8 million kilometers (5 million miles).Later, Johannes Kepler estimated the AU was at 24 million kilometers (15 million miles).In 1672, Giovanni Cassini made a much better estimate by using Mars.istorical Background: Tycho Brahe estimated the distance between the Sun and the Earth at 8 million kilometers (5 million miles). Later, Johannes Kepler estimated the AU was at 24 million kilometers (15 million miles).