How many thou are in 1 AU?

One AU contains approximately 5.886 x 1015 thou.

Is this conversion used?

Never. Precision machining and planetary astronomy share no practical domain.

Thou to Astronomical Units (thou to au) Converter

Q: How many AU is 1 thou?

One thou equals approximately 1.699 x 10-16 AU.

1 thou = 1.69789 × 10⁻¹⁶ au

1 Thou equals 1.69789 × 10⁻¹⁶ Astronomical Units (1 thou = 1.69789 × 10⁻¹⁶ au). Convert Thou to Astronomical Units with formula, table, and examples.

One thou equals approximately 1.699 x 10^-16 AU. The Earth-Sun distance (1 AU) is about 5.886 x 10¹⁵ thou. The thou measures precision engineering; the AU measures planetary orbits.

How to Convert Thou to Astronomical Units

au = thou ÷ 5.88968 × 10¹⁵

Divide the value in Thou by 5.88968 × 10¹⁵

Take your value in Thou
Divide by 5.88968 × 10¹⁵
Read the result in Astronomical Units

Common Thou to Astronomical Units Conversions

Thou (thou)	Astronomical Units (au)	Status
1 thou	1.6978 × 10⁻¹⁶ au
100 thou	1.69789 × 10⁻¹⁴ au
10,000 thou	1.69789 × 10⁻¹² au
1,000,000 thou	1.69789 × 10⁻¹⁰ au
100,000,000 thou	1.69789 × 10⁻⁸ au
10,000,000,000 thou	0.000002 au
1,000,000,000,000 thou	0.0002 au
100,000,000,000,000 thou	0.017 au
1 × 10¹⁶ thou	1.6979 au

Good to Know About Thou to Astronomical Units Conversion

Spacecraft are built to thou-level tolerances for AU-level missions. Every bolt, seal, and joint on a Mars probe is specified in thou (or mm). The probe then travels 0.5-2.5 AU. The thou builds the machine; the AU is the mission.

Thou to Astronomical Units: What You Need to Know

1 AU = about 5.886 quadrillion thou. A 1-thou tolerance band is unfathomably small compared to planetary distances.

What is a Thou? thou

One thousandth of an inch (0.0254 mm). Also called a mil in the US. Used in engineering, manufacturing, and for measuring thin materials like plastic film.

Imperial engineering plastic film thickness wire gauges

Learn more about Thou →

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 →

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

Thou to Astronomical Units FAQ

One thou equals approximately 1.699 x 10^-16 AU.
One AU contains approximately 5.886 x 10¹⁵ thou.
Never. Precision machining and planetary astronomy share no practical domain.

Non-Frequently Asked Questions About Thou to Astronomical Units

Questions nobody should ask - but someone did.

The Moon is about 0.00257 AU = about 15.13 billion thou. Every thou of spacecraft tolerance must survive 15 billion thou of travel to the Moon. Space engineering: thou-level precision at billion-thou distances.
A business card is about 14 thou. 1 AU (5.886 x 10¹⁵ thou) = about 420 trillion business cards. Networking across the solar system requires a lot of cards.
Global copper wire production is roughly 1 billion km/year = about 39 trillion thou/year. Over 100 years: 3.9 quadrillion thou = about 0.66 AU. All wire in human history reaches about 2/3 of the way to the Sun. Close but not quite.