Astronomical Distances: Activity 4

Distance to a star. Mesure of stellar parallax

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One method to determine the distance to a star is to measure its parallax. The different positions of the Earth around the Sun offer differnte perspectives for observing the stars during a year. This involves an elliptical apparent movement of stars in the sky reflecting the movement of the Earth. The angle of parallax reflects this apparent motion and it is the magnitude that we will measure to find out how far away is the star.

In the attachment you will find the activity guide .