Solar radius - wikipedia Solar radius Conversion of nominal solar radius 1 R = Units 7008695700000000000 ♠ 6.957 00 × 10 metres 695,700 kilometres 0.00465047 astronomical unit 432,288 miles 6992735355000000000 ♠ 7.353 55 × 10 light - year 6992225461000000000 ♠ 2.254 61 × 10 parsec 2.32061 light - seconds Solar radius is a unit of distance used to express the size of stars in astronomy. The solar radius is usually defined as the radius to the layer in the Sun 's photosphere where the optical depth equals 2 / 3 : 1 R ⊙ = 6.957 × 10 5 km ( displaystyle 1 , R_ ( odot ) = 6.957 \times 10 ^ ( 5 ) ( hbox ( km ) ) ) The solar radius is approximately 695,700 kilometres ( 432,300 miles ), which is about 10 times the average radius of Jupiter, 110 times the radius of the Earth, and 1 / 215th of an astronomical unit, the distance of the Earth from the Sun. It varies slightly from pole to equator due to its rotation, which induces an oblateness in the order of 10 parts per million. ( See 1 gigametre for similar distances. ) The unmanned SOHO spacecraft was used to measure the radius of the Sun by timing transits of Mercury across the surface during 2003 and 2006. The result was a measured radius of 696,342 ± 65 kilometres ( 432,687 ± 40 miles ). Haberreiter, Schmutz & Kosovichev ( 2008 ) determined the radius corresponding to the solar photosphere to be 695,660 ± 140 kilometres ( 432,263 ± 87 miles ). This new value is consistent with helioseismic estimates ; the same study showed that previous estimates using inflection point methods had been overestimated by approximately 300 km ( 190 mi ). Contents 1 Nominal solar radius 2 Examples 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Nominal solar radius In 2015, the International Astronomical Union passed Resolution B3, which defined a set of nominal conversion constants for stellar and planetary astronomy. Resolution B3 defined the nominal solar radius ( symbol R ⊙ N ( displaystyle R_ ( odot ) ^ ( N ) ) ) to be equal to exactly 695,700 km. The nominal values were adopted to help astronomers avoid confusion when quoting stellar radii in units of the Sun 's radius, even when future observations will likely refine the Sun 's actual photospheric radius ( which is currently only known to about the ± 100 -- 200 km accuracy ). Examples Solar radii as a unit are popular when talking about spacecraft moving close to the sun. Two spacecraft in the 2010s. Solar Orbiter ( as close as 45 Solar radii, R ) Parker Solar Probe ( as close as 9 Solar radii, R ) See also Astronomical unit Orders of magnitude ( length ) Solar luminosity Solar mass References Jump up ^ NASA RHESSI oblateness measurements 2012 Jump up ^ Emilio, Marcelo ; Kuhn, Jeff R. ; Bush, Rock I. ; Scholl, Isabelle F., `` Measuring the Solar Radius from Space during the 2003 and 2006 Mercury Transits '', The Astrophysical Journal, 750 : 135, arXiv : 1203.4898, Bibcode : 2012ApJ... 750... 135E, doi : 10.1088 / 0004 - 637X / 750 / 2 / 135 Jump up ^ Haberreiter, M ; Schmutz, W ; Kosovichev, A.G., `` Solving the Discrepancy between the Seismic and Photospheric Solar Radius '', Astrophysical Journal, 675 ( 1 ) : L53 -- L56, arXiv : 0711.2392, Bibcode : 2008ApJ... 675L... 53H, doi : 10.1086 / 529492 Jump up ^ Mamajek, E.E. ; Prsa, A. ; Torres, G. ; et, al., IAU 2015 Resolution B3 on Recommended Nominal Conversion Constants for Selected Solar and Planetary Properties, arXiv : 1510.07674, Bibcode : 2015arXiv151007674M External links S.C. Tripathy ; H.M. Antia ( 1999 ). `` Influence of surface layers on the seismic estimate of the solar radius ''. Solar Physics. 186 ( 1 / 2 ) : 1 -- 11. Bibcode : 1999SoPh... 186... 1T. doi : 10.1023 / A : 1005116830445. T.M. Brown ; J. Christensen - Dalsgaard ( 1998 ). `` Accurate Determination of the Solar Photospheric Radius ''. Astrophysical Journal Letters. 500 ( 2 ) : L195. arXiv : astro - ph / 9803131. Bibcode : 1998ApJ... 500L. 195B. doi : 10.1086 / 311416. Units of length used in Astronomy Astronomical system of units Earth radius ( R or R ) Light - second ( ls ) Solar radius ( R ) gigametre ( Gm ) Astronomical unit ( AU ) terametre ( Tm ) light - year ( ly ) parsec ( pc ) kiloparsec ( kpc ) megaparsec ( Mpc ) gigaparsec ( Gpc ) See also Cosmic distance ladder Orders of magnitude ( length ) Conversion of units Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Solar_radius&oldid=841539553 '' Categories : Sun Stellar astronomy Units of length Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Asturianu Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français 한국어 हिन्दी Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ქართული Kiswahili Lëtzebuergesch Magyar Македонски मराठी Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Polski Português Română Русский Scots Sicilianu Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska தமிழ் తెలుగు ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 40 more Edit links This page was last edited on 16 May 2018, at 13 : 18. About Wikipedia

Question: what is the solar radius of the sun
Answer: approximately 695,700 kilometres (432,300 miles)