For a star with a parallax angle of 1/2 of an at arcsecond, what will be its distance in parsec?

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Physics

Keagan

19 May, 09:10

For a star with a parallax angle of 1/2 of an at arcsecond, what will be its distance in parsec?

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Rhianna Welch · Answer 1

(1 parsec) is the distance at which an object has a parallax of 1 arcsecond. The distance is about 3.26 light years.

Another way to understand it is: The distance from which the Earth's orbit appears 1 arcsecond across.

For a parallax angle of 1/2 arcsecond, the distance is 2 parsecs (about 6.52 light years).

1 arcsecond is 1/3600 of a degree, 0.00028 degree.