Mnemonic for the AU distance Astronomical unit 149597870 km

The astronomical unit, commonly abbreviated as AU, is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun. The value: 149597870 kilometers. How can we memorize such a large number as the AU?

As commonly used in this number mnemonics blog, let's use the mnemonic major system. All we need to do is find a keyword that matches 149597870, the astronomical unit, which can be quite hard, unless you use a mnemonic generator for numbers.

Let's start from the following word: Pacific Asia, a very large region near to the Western Pacific Ocean. But the UA is not just a large number, the Astronomical Unit is a huge distance, so let's triple this.

Triple Pacific Asia

Yes, we have a perfect match for the Astronomical Unit AU according to the mnemonic major system!

• T - 1 (1 downstroke)
• R - 4 (fouR)
• P - 9 (mirror image of P)
• L - 5 (L is 50 in Latin)
• etc...

See mnemonic major system for the full mapping list.

If you like number mnemonics in astronomy you could also check out this mnemonic for the lunar distance and  this mnemonic for the big bang.

Mnemonic for the lunar distance

The lunar distance is the distance between the earth and the moon. On average this is 384.400 kilometers. How can we easily remember this number. Well, here is a mnemonic.

We're talking about a distance in astronomy, so let's associate this distance with the Theory of relativity. The most famous equation in special relativity is E = mc², let's remember the Square of this formula. Now let's perform some mnemonic magic.

1. Perform the mnemonic count system on the Theory of relativity: count the letters in each word and keep the last digit. Theory: 6; of: 2; relativity: (1)0 --> 620
2. 620² = 384.400

It's easy, isn't it? You'll never forget that number again.

(Count("Theory of relativity"))^2 = 384.400