Mindtap Astronomy, 1 Term (6 Months) Printed Access Card For Seeds/backman's Foundations Of Astronomy, 14th
Mindtap Astronomy, 1 Term (6 Months) Printed Access Card For Seeds/backman's Foundations Of Astronomy, 14th
14th Edition
ISBN: 9781337399975
Author: Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Chapter 9, Problem 1RQ
To determine

The reason for which Earth-based parallax measurements limited to the nearest star.

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Answer to Problem 1RQ

Since, the orbit of Earth is very small compared to the distances to the star; there is a limitation of parallax measurement to the nearest star.

Explanation of Solution

By using the parallax measurement, one can obtain the apparent motion of star due to the Earth’s motion around the Sun. However the parallax measurement is limited for nearest star.

The orbit of Earth is very small compared to the distances to the star. Even the nearest star will show low parallax motion. Again, if the Earth’s orbit were large enough, it is possible to measure parallax to the star for larger distance. Hence, due to small orbit of Earth compared to the distances of star, there is a limitation of parallax measurement to the nearest star.

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15: A star has a parallax angle of 0.0270 arcseconds and an apparent magnitude of 4.641. What is the distance to this star?  Answer: 37 16: What is the absolute magnitude of this star? Answer:1.8 17: Is this star more or less luminous than the Sun? Answer "M" for More luminous or "L" for Less luminous. (HINT: the absolute magnitude of the Sun is 4.8) Answer: M  18: What is the luminosity of this star? (HINT: The luminosity of the Sun is 3.85×1026 W.) Please answer question #18, #15-17 are correct, the photos provide the work for them.
the parallax angle of a star to be 0.002 arc-seconds.  what would the  distance be to this star?
You measure a star to have a parallax angle of 0.12 arc-seconds What is the distance to this star in parsecs? 8.33 Hint: d = 1/p What is the parallax angle of a different star that is twice as far away as the star from the previous problems? [answer in arc-seconds without including the unit]
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