How is stellar parallax found?

1 Answer
A. S. Adikesavan
Mar 25, 2016

Observe angular displacement of the star, from the same location, for the duration of N days. This is stellar parallax for the displacement of the observer through N days, in Earth's orbit.

Explanation:

Stellar parallax is the apparent angular displacement of a star , when the observer is displaced.

If this angle is #alpha#, for two observations in time-spacing N days, the distance of the star is

#tan (2piN/365.256363)/tan(alpha/2)# AU
= #2tan (2piN/365.256363)/alpha# AU, nearly.
(If #alpha# is in radians and is quite small, tan #alpha/2# = #alpha/2#, nearly).

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