Gaussian year

{{Short description|Unit of time equaling 365.2568983 days}}

File:Carl_Friedrich_Gauss_1840_by_Jensen.jpg

A Gaussian year is defined as 365.2568983 days.{{Cite journal|last=Standish|first=E. M.|date=2004-06-01|title=The Astronomical Unit now|journal=Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union|volume=2004|issue=IAUC196|pages=163–179|doi=10.1017/S1743921305001365|issn=1743-9221|doi-access=free}} It was adopted by Carl Friedrich Gauss as the length of the sidereal year in his studies of the dynamics of the Solar System.

A slightly different value is now accepted as the length of the sidereal year,{{Cite web|url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?constants|title=Astrodynamic Constants|last=Chamberlin|first=Alan|website=ssd.jpl.nasa.gov|access-date=2016-11-16}}

and the value accepted by Gauss is given a special name.

A particle of negligible mass, that orbits a body of 1 solar mass in this period, has a mean axis for its orbit of 1 astronomical unit by definition. The value is derived from Kepler's third law as

:$\backslash mbox\{1\; Gaussian\; year\}=\; \backslash frac\; \{2\backslash pi\}\; \{k\}\; \backslash ,$

where

:k is the Gaussian gravitational constant.{{Cite book|last1=Herrick|first1=S.|last2=Baker|first2=R. M. L. Jr.|last3=Hilton|first3=C. G.|title=VIIIth International Astronautical Congress Barcelona 1957 / VIII. Internationaler Astronautischer Kongress / VIIIe Congrès International d'Astronautique |chapter=Gravitational and Related Constants for Accurate Space Navigation |date=1958-01-01|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|isbn=9783662390207|editor-last=Hecht|editor-first=F.|pages=197–235|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-662-39990-3_17}}