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Astronomers Use Parallax To Determine The Distance Of A Star

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Astronomers used parallax to measure and determine the distance of a star. Not only astronomers uses parallax; surveyors, and sailors use parallax to determine distances. Parallax is when an object’s position or direction change based on the viewers angle. For example, looking at one object with your left eye closed, then with your right eye closed. The object will seem like it is shifting against the background. A Danish astronomer named Tycho Brahe speculate that “If the new str is nearby, its position should shift against the background stars over the course of night” (Comins 36). In Chapter 10, it talks about stellar parallax which is the shifting of star positions that occurs as we view the stars from different positions, because the Earth’s

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