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A parsec is the distance from the Sun to an astronomical object that has a parallax angle of one arcsecond (not to scale). The parsec (symbol: pc) is a unit of length used to measure the large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System, approximately equal to 3.26 light-years or 206,265 astronomical units (AU), i.e. 30.9 trillion kilometres (19.2 trillion miles).
Stellar parallax is so difficult to detect that its existence was the subject of much debate in astronomy for hundreds of years. Thomas Henderson , Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve , and Friedrich Bessel made the first successful parallax measurements in 1832–1838, for the stars Alpha Centauri , Vega , and 61 Cygni .
Parallax is an angle subtended by two lines crossing a point. In the upper diagram, the Earth (blue-filled circle) in its orbit sweeps the parallax angle subtended on the Sun (yellow-filled circle). The lower diagram shows the equal angle swept by the Sun in a geostatic model. A similar diagram can be drawn for a star except that the angle of ...
Parallax is an angle subtended by two lines crossing a point. In the upper diagram, the Earth (blue-filled circle) in its orbit sweeps the parallax angle subtended on the Sun (yellow-filled circle). The lower diagram shows the equal angle swept by the Sun in a geostatic model. A similar diagram can be drawn for a star except that the angle of ...
Listed here are software packages useful for conducting scientific research in astronomy, and for seeing, exploring, and learning about the data used in astronomy. Package Name Pro
Angles greater than 360° (2 π) or less than 0° may need to be reduced to the range 0°−360° (0–2 π) depending upon the particular calculating machine or program. The cosine of a latitude (declination, ecliptic and Galactic latitude, and altitude) are never negative by definition, since the latitude varies between −90° and +90°.
In spherical astronomy, the parallactic angle is the angle between the great circle through a celestial object and the zenith, and the hour circle of the object. [1] It is usually denoted q . In the triangle zenith—object—celestial pole, the parallactic angle will be the position angle of the zenith at the celestial object.
Currently, astrometric solving is exclusively done by software programs. The program extracts the star x,y positions from the celestial image, groups them in three-star triangles or four-star quads. Then it calculates for each group a geometric hash code based on the distance and/or angles between the stars in the group.