Micrometers to Astronomical Units

Micrometer

A micrometer (µm) is a metric unit of length equal to one-millionth of a meter. It is commonly used in science, engineering, and manufacturing to measure microscopic dimensions. For reference, a human hair is typically between 50 and 100 micrometers thick.

Micrometers help describe the size of bacteria, material thickness, and tiny machine components. When comparing such small values with larger units, a conversion tool can make precise measurements much easier to work with.

Astronomical Unit

An astronomical unit (AU) is a standard space measurement based on the distance from the Earth to the Sun—about 149.6 million kilometers or 93 million miles. It helps describe solar system distances in practical numbers rather than extremely large values.

Astronomers use AU values to measure orbits of planets, asteroids, and comets relative to Earth.