The astronomical unit is a unit of length and is used in the Astronomical system of units and denoted by the symbol au.
It represents the average distance between the Earth and the Sun which is approximately 150 million kilometres (or 93 million miles).
It's used mostly to express distances within our Solar System.
The micrometre (American spelling micrometer) is a unit of length and is a multiple of the SI unit metre. It uses the symbol μm.
It represents one millionth of a metre and is also known by its previously depreciated name micron.
In the US, the term 'micron' helped distinguish the unit name from the device 'micrometer' but the International System of Units (SI) discontinued this term in favour of micrometre as the prefix system required the use of the Greek symbol 'μ' which invoked the factor x10−6.