mean distance


nounAstronomy.
  1. the arithmetic mean of the greatest and least distances of a planet from the sun, used in stating the size of an orbit; the semimajor axis.

Origin of mean distance

1
First recorded in 1885–90

Words Nearby mean distance

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How to use mean distance in a sentence

  • This speed, caused by the solar mass itself, keeps our planet at the same mean distance from the central star.

    Urania | Camille Flammarion
  • The square of the time of revolution (or year) of each planet is proportional to the cube of its mean distance from the sun.

    Pioneers of Science | Oliver Lodge
  • On the orbit of the moon, at its mean distance from the earth, each of these straight sides would be about 6,000 feet long.

  • It has been calculated that the whites advance a mean distance of seventeen miles along the whole of this vast boundary.

    American Institutions and Their Influence | Alexis de Tocqueville et al.
  • The mean distance from the Atlantic to the Mississippi does not probably exceed seven hundred and fifty miles.

    The Federalist Papers | Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison

British Dictionary definitions for mean distance

mean distance

noun
  1. the average of the greatest and least distances of a celestial body from its primary

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012