How many hands are in 1 AU?

One AU contains approximately 1.473 x 1012 hands (about 1.5 trillion). Since 1 hand = 10.16 cm = 0.1016 m, and 1 AU = 149,597,870,700 m, divide accordingly.

How tall would a horse be at 1 AU?

A horse 1 AU tall would stand about 149.6 million kilometers, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun. No horse has ever been that tall.

Is this conversion ever used?

Never. The hand is exclusively for horse height. The AU is exclusively for solar system distances. They exist in completely separate measurement universes.

Astronomical Units to Hands (au to hh) Converter

1 au = 1,472,420,000,000 hh

1 Astronomical Unit equals 1,472,420,000,000 Hands (1 au = 1,472,420,000,000 hh). Convert Astronomical Units to Hands with formula, table, and examples.

One astronomical unit equals approximately 1.473 x 10¹² hands, or about 1.5 trillion hands. The hand (4 inches / 10.16 cm) measures horse height exclusively, while the AU measures planetary orbits. No equestrian has ever needed to know how many horse-heights fit between the Earth and Sun.

How to Convert Astronomical Units to Hands

hh = au × 1,472,420,000,000

Multiply the value in Astronomical Units by 1,472,420,000,000

Take your value in Astronomical Units
Multiply by 1,472,420,000,000
Read the result in Hands

Common Astronomical Units to Hands Conversions

Astronomical Units (au)	Hands (hh)	Status
1 × 10⁻¹³ au	0.1472 hh
1 × 10⁻¹² au	1.4724 hh
1 × 10⁻¹¹ au	14.7242 hh
1 × 10⁻¹⁰ au	147.242 hh
1 × 10⁻⁹ au	1,472.42 hh
1 × 10⁻⁸ au	14,724.1999 hh
1 × 10⁻⁷ au	147,241.9987 hh
0.000001 au	1,472,419.9872 hh
0.00001 au	14,724,199.872 hh
0.0001 au	147,241,998.7205 hh
0.001 au	1,472,419,987.2047 hh

Good to Know About Astronomical Units to Hands Conversion

The hand is arguably the most specialized unit still in common use, applied only to horses. Pairing it with the AU, used only for solar system distances, creates a conversion between two of the most domain-specific units in existence.

Astronomical Units to Hands: What You Need to Know

A horse at 16 hands tall would need about 92 billion copies of itself stacked end-to-end to reach the Sun. The Earth-Moon distance (about 3.79 million hands) is only 0.00257 AU. These comparisons exist purely to illustrate the absurd scale difference between equestrian and astronomical measurement.

What is a Astronomical Unit? au

Exactly 149,597,870,700 meters by IAU 2012 definition. Roughly the average distance from the Earth to the Sun. Used for distances within our solar system.

Astronomical solar system distances astronomy planetary science

Learn more about Astronomical Unit →

What is a Hand? hh

Exactly 4 inches (10.16 cm). The standard unit for measuring the height of horses, measured from the ground to the withers.

Imperial horse height measurement equestrian

Learn more about Hand →

Going the other way? Use our Hands to Astronomical Units converter.

Astronomical Units to Hands FAQ

One AU contains approximately 1.473 x 10¹² hands (about 1.5 trillion). Since 1 hand = 10.16 cm = 0.1016 m, and 1 AU = 149,597,870,700 m, divide accordingly.
A horse 1 AU tall would stand about 149.6 million kilometers, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun. No horse has ever been that tall.
Never. The hand is exclusively for horse height. The AU is exclusively for solar system distances. They exist in completely separate measurement universes.

Non-Frequently Asked Questions About Astronomical Units to Hands

Questions nobody should ask - but someone did.

At 16 hands per horse (1.63 m), you would need about 92 billion horses stacked withers-to-hoof to span 1 AU. The world has about 60 million horses. You would need 1,500 times every horse on Earth. Space colonization via horse tower is not recommended.