Show all the work for the following 1. The distance to Alpha Centauri is 4.26 li

Question

Show all the work for the following
1. The distance to Alpha Centauri is 4.26 lightyears. When Earth and Mars are nearest each other in their orbits, Mars is 25” (arcseconds) in diameter on the sky. What is the ratio of the size of Alpha Centauri’s parallax (as seen from Earth) compared to the apparent size of Mars at Earth’s closest approach?

2. On Earth it takes 6 months to measure the parallax of a star. Why? How much longer (in months) would it take to measure a star’s parallax from Mars?

3. Using the general parallax equation D = d/p, by what percentage would the parallax of ANY star change if we were to observe it from Mars instead of the Earth? Is this percentage larger or smaller than what is seen from Earth.

4. What is the parallax of Alpha Centauri (in arcseconds) as seen from Mars?

Explanation / Answer

http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys301/lectures/parallax/parallax.html

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