IAU 2015 Resolution B3 on Recommended Nominal Conversion Constants for Selected Solar and Planetary Properties

TL;DR

The paper details the IAU 2015 Resolution B3, which standardizes exact SI-based nominal conversion constants for solar and planetary properties used in astronomy, ensuring consistency across the field.

Contribution

It introduces a set of standardized, exact SI-based nominal constants for solar and planetary parameters, replacing previous variable estimates for consistency.

Findings

Defines five solar conversion constants as exact SI values.

Defines six planetary conversion constants as exact SI values.

Provides a standardized reference for celestial measurements.

Abstract

Astronomers commonly quote the properties of celestial objects in units of parameters for the Sun, Jupiter, or the Earth. The resolution presented here was proposed by the IAU Inter-Division Working Group on Nominal Units for Stellar and Planetary Astronomy and passed by the XXIXth IAU General Assembly in Honolulu. IAU 2015 Resolution B3 adopts a set of nominal solar, terrestrial, and jovian conversion constants for stellar and (exo)planetary astronomy which are defined to be exact SI values. While the nominal constants are based on current best estimates (CBEs; which have uncertainties, are not secularly constant, and are updated regularly using new observations), they should be interpreted as standard values and not as CBEs. IAU 2015 Resolution B3 adopts five solar conversion constants (nominal solar radius, nominal total solar irradiance, nominal solar luminosity, nominal solar effective temperature, and nominal solar mass parameter) and six planetary conversion constants (nominal terrestrial equatorial radius, nominal terrestrial polar radius, nominal jovian equatorial radius, nominal jovian polar radius, nominal terrestrial mass parameter, and nominal jovian mass parameter).