Dear Colleagues,This is an important step for the IAU. The definition of the astronomical unit (ua or, as they put it, AU) is now a fixed number. In their field this is a momentous as the decision made not that long ago by the CGPM to define the speed of light as a fixed number rather than a measured quantity.
The astronomical unit is now 149 597 870 700 m exactly. Jim Frysingerhttp://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/09/24/earth-sun-distance-measurement-redefined/
