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Gigametre

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Unit system
  
metric

Symbol
  
Gm

Unit of
  
length

1 Gm in ...
  
... is equal to ...

Gigametre

SI units
  
7009100000000000000♠1×10 m

astronomical units
  
0.0066846 AU  1.0570×10 ly  3.2408×10 pc

The gigametre (official spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: Gm) or gigameter (American spelling) is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billion metres, the SI base unit of length. This is equivalent to 1,000,000 km or approximately 621,370 mi.

Gigametres (from the Greek words gigas = giant and metro = count/measure) are composed exactly of 1,000 megametres. Although fit for distances in astronomy (e.g. a planet's distance from its star) this professional field usually uses the astronomical unit (AU) or millions and billions of kilometres.

Examples

  • Earth's average distance from the Sun is 149.6 Gm, also referred to as 1 astronomical unit.
  • Jupiter's average distance from the Sun is 778.5 Gm.
  • Osiris' average distance from the parent star HD 209458 is 6.7 Gm.
  • PSR J1719-1438 b's average distance from the pulsar PSR J1719-1438 is 0.666 Gm, which is the smallest orbit of any known exoplanet.
  • The mean diameter of the Sun is 1.393 Gm.
  • The mean diameter of red supergiant star Betelgeuse is 1,302 Gm.

    • References

    Gigametre Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA