Introduces a new system of distance measurement in astronomy, suggesting practical applications for orbital mechanics.
A mechanical universe requires mechanical units of measurement. The light-year—a velocity-time hybrid—encodes the speed of light into every distance it expresses, coupling spatial measurement to a propagation constant with no geometric basis. This paper presents a complete replacement: a three-tier distance hierarchy built from the same principle applied at each structural scale. The Astronomical Unit (AU) measures the distance to our star. The Twin Unit (TU) measures the distance to the next star. The Galactic Unit (GU) measures the distance to the next galaxy. Each is a defined constant, frozen at the epoch of definition, derived from the geometric relationship between physical objects. Together with their native dynamical constants, these units form a self-contained system for expressing distance and computing orbital mechanics from the planetary scale to the supercluster scale without invoking velocity, travel time, or any cosmological model.
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Matt Webb (2026) studied this question.
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