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parallax

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parallax

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The parallax of a star, the apparent change of its position during the year, can be used to find the star's distance from the Earth. The star appears to change its position because it is viewed at a different angle in July and January. By measuring the angle of parallax, and knowing the diameter of the Earth's orbit, simple geometry can be used to calculate the distance to the star.
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The parallax of a star, the apparent change of its position during the year, can be used to find the star's distance from the Earth. The star appears to change its position because it is viewed at a different angle in July and January. By measuring the angle of parallax, and knowing the diameter of the Earth's orbit, simple geometry can be used to calculate the distance to the star. The technique was developed by the German astronomer Friedrich Bessel.

Change in the apparent position of an object against its background when viewed from two different positions. In astronomy, nearby stars show a shift owing to parallax when viewed from different positions on the Earth's orbit around the Sun. A star's parallax is used to deduce its distance from the Earth.

Nearer bodies such as the Moon, Sun, and planets also show a parallax caused by the motion of the Earth.
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They took advantage of this fact to explain to them that this distance was obtained by measuring the parallax of the moon.
From The Earth To The Moon by Verne, Jules View in context
What is the nature and power of that science- baffling star, without parallax, without calculable elements, which shoots a ray of beauty even into trivial and impure actions, if the least mark of independence appear?
Essays, First Series by Emerson, Ralph Waldo View in context
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