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Parallax Practice Problems

This document provides practice problems for calculating stellar parallax. Stellar parallax is the change in position of a nearby star as seen from opposite sides of Earth's orbit. The key formula provided is: Parallax Angle (in arcseconds) = 1/Distance (in parsecs). Several example calculations are given applying this formula to determine parallax or distance. The document asks the student to calculate parallax or distance for various stars and discuss the limitations of using parallax to determine distances to very distant or all stars.

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Rose Keesler
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350 views2 pages

Parallax Practice Problems

This document provides practice problems for calculating stellar parallax. Stellar parallax is the change in position of a nearby star as seen from opposite sides of Earth's orbit. The key formula provided is: Parallax Angle (in arcseconds) = 1/Distance (in parsecs). Several example calculations are given applying this formula to determine parallax or distance. The document asks the student to calculate parallax or distance for various stars and discuss the limitations of using parallax to determine distances to very distant or all stars.

Uploaded by

Rose Keesler
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Stellar Parallax Practice Problems Name ________________________ Block __

d = 1/p Parallax Angle (measured in arcseconds - ”)

Distance (measured in parsecs)

1 parsec = 3.26 light years

Example Calculation: What is the parallax of a star located 10 parsecs away?

10 = 1 X=1 X= 0.1 or Parallax = 0.1”


X 10

Analysis:
1. What is the parallax angle of a star located 5 parsecs away? (SHOW MATH!)

2. A star that has a parallax of 0.05” is how far away? (SHOW MATH!)

3. Star 1 is 12 parsecs away and Star 2 is 20 parsecs away, which star has a greater parallax? (SHOW MATH!)

4. The closest star to the sun is Proxima Centauri. It has a parallax of 0.77”. How far away is it? (SHOW MATH!)

5. How does the parallax of a nearby object to the Earth compare to the parallax of a more distant object?

6. How much parallax would an extremely distant object have?

7. Could parallax be used to determine the distance to all stars? Why or why not?

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