The study of the universe’s measurements has intrigued astronomers as early as 250 BC, when the astronomer Aristarchus of Samos was the first to attempt to find the distance from Earth to the Sun by mathematical means (Charbonneau, 2008). He reasoned that since the angular size of the Sun and Moon are the same, that the Sun was 18-20 times larger than the Moon. Although scientists now know that these calculations are incorrect, Aristarchus’s trigonometric method was the first to set the relative ratios of distance in the cosmos; at this time in astronomy, there were no ratios of distance in space, only the order of the planets (Hoskin, 2007). Aristarchus’s method involved a simple triangle connecting the Earth, Sun, and Moon. With the Moon at a 90-degree angle relative to the Earth, the angle from the Moon to the Sun (also relative to the Earth) could be measured, leaving the final angle in the triangle easily found. Using the ratio between these angles, trigonometric functions can be used to determine the ratio between the distance to the Moon versus the distance to the Sun in relation to the Earth (Charbonneau, 2008).

The next mathematical attempt to find a relative distance in space was through Eratosthenes, a Greek mathematician who …show more content…
Knowing that light travels at approximately 300,000 km/sec (Newman, 2017), scientists can find very precise distances. In many cases, a light beam is shot out, the time it takes to return is recorded, and a distance is determined using the equation 2d=vt, where d is distance, v is velocity, and t is time (Newman, 2017). This is equation uses two times the distance value because the light beam has to reach the object, then return back to the position it started at. The most current measurements have determined that the distance from Earth to the Moon is approximately 238,855 miles (Leon,