Concept explainers
Why Earth-based parallax measurements are limited to the nearest star?
Answer to Problem 1RQ
Earth-based parallax system is limited to nearest stars because earth atmosphere smears stars images which makes difficult to measure the parallax from earth.
Explanation of Solution
Measurement of parallax is a very difficult task because stars at a larger distance makea very small angle.
When we measure the parallax angle from Earth even from a very good observatory, the earth atmosphere smears the images of the star and makes the diameter of the star around 1 arc second, which makes it difficult to measure the parallax from Earth.
That is why Earth parallax system is limited to the nearest star.
Conclusion:
Because earth atmosphere smears stars images which makes difficult to measure the parallax from earth
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Chapter 8 Solutions
Horizons: Exploring the Universe (MindTap Course List)
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