Astronomy › Section M · Celestial distances › Topic M.2
Surveying the stars: parallax
Parallax is the only way to measure a star's distance with pure geometry, using Earth's orbit as a surveyor's baseline. Every other method for stellar and galactic distances is calibrated, directly or indirectly, against it.
In this topic
- From the planets to the stars
- A shift that shrinks with distance
- Earth's orbit as the baseline
- Why the ancients saw nothing
- The parsec
- Worked example: the nearest star
- Worked example: a parallax and its uncertainty
- Leaving the atmosphere
- Gaia: a billion-star survey
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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