Because the numbers are beyond human comprehension. This part of my job requires me to provide some meaningful sense of proportion.
Earth is 149 597 871 km from the Sun. That's our STARTING point. Meters, kilometers, miles, furlongs, parasangs and stadia are totally meaningless on the astronomical scale. On 26 June 2014 17:45, Harold_Potsdamer <[email protected]> wrote: > Why? Since the AU is fixed to the metre, why not just use the metre > and its prefixes? > > > > *From:* Eric L Shuman <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, 2014-06-26 15:31 > *To:* U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> > *Cc:* U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> > *Subject:* [USMA:54054] Re: New supplement to the SI Brochure > > Thanks for bringing this to my (our) attention! I use the astronomical > unit in outreach work that I do, so this is good to be aware of. > > > On 26 June 2014 07:36, James <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Dear Folks, >> >> The BIPM has issued a supplement to the SI Brochure. It alters the order >> of the base units in defining derived units (Tables 6 and 7), it reflects >> the recent IAU decision to define the astronomical year as a fixed and >> exact number, and it makes some updates reflecting the latest CODATA, among >> other things. >> >> http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si_supplement_2014.pdf >> >> Best regards, >> >> Jim Frysinger >> >> -- >> James R. Frysinger >> 632 Stoney Point Mountain Road >> Doyle TN 38559-3030 >> >> (C) 931.212.0267 >> (H) 931.657.3107 >> (F) 931.657.3108 >> >> >
