Question map
Not attempted Correct Incorrect ★ Bookmarked
Loading…
Q3 (CDS-II/2008) Science & Technology › Basic Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) › Astronomy and astrophysics Answer Verified

Which one of the following is correct ? The mean distance from the Sun to the Earth is called a/an

Result
Your answer: —  Â·  Correct: C
Explanation

The mean distance from the Sun to the Earth is defined as an Astronomical Unit (AU). This unit is a standard measurement in astronomy used to describe distances within our solar system [t1][t3]. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) defines 1 AU as exactly 149,597,870,700 meters, which is approximately 149.6 million kilometers or 93 million miles [t1][t2][t7]. While a Light Year (Option 1) measures the distance light travels in one year (approx. 9.46 trillion km) [c1][c5], and a Parallactic Second or Parsec (Option 2) represents the distance at which 1 AU subtends an angle of one arcsecond [t1][t9], the AU specifically represents the Earth-Sun average distance [t6][t8]. Angstrom (Option 4) is a microscopic unit of length (10^-10 meters) used for atomic scales. Therefore, the AU is the correct term for the mean Earth-Sun distance.

Sources

  1. [1] FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Geography Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 2: The Origin and Evolution of the Earth > The Star Formation > p. 14
  2. [2] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 1: The Universe, The Big Bang Theory, Galaxies & Stellar Evolution > Our Galaxy (The Milky Way) > p. 8
How others answered
Each bar shows the % of students who chose that option. Green bar = correct answer, blue outline = your choice.
Community Performance
Out of everyone who attempted this question.
53%
got it right
✓ Thank you! We'll review this.

SIMILAR QUESTIONS

CDS-I · 2016 · Q28 Relevance score: 1.48

Which of the following statements is / are correct ? 1. The earth is nearest to the Sun at Perihelion, which generally occurs on January 3 2. The earth is farthest away from the Sun at Perihelion, which generally occurs on July 4 3. The earth is farthest away from the Sun at Aphelion, which generally occurs on July 4 4. The earth is nearest to the Sun at Aphelion, which generally occurs on January 3 Select the correct answer using the code given below :

NDA-I · 2021 · Q36 Relevance score: -1.20

Consider the following statements about Light year: 1. Light year is a unit for measurement of very large distances. 2. Light year is a unit for measurement of very large time intervals. 3. Light year is a unit for measurement of intensity of light. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

IAS · 2007 · Q74 Relevance score: -1.32

What is the average distance (approximate) between the Sun and the Earth?

NDA-I · 2009 · Q51 Relevance score: -1.34

One light year is equal to

NDA-II · 2017 · Q60 Relevance score: -1.69

Light year is a measure of