Stars

Running Head: Stars
Stars
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How do we calculate or determine the distances to stars? What units do we use and what are the limitations (if any) of the method used for such calculations?
To calculate or determine how far stars are from one another, the parallax method is used. With the earth revolving around the sun, positions of stars nearest to the Earth tend to shift positions against stars that are light years away. Thus, this shift is referred as the parallax shift (Windows to the Universe, n.d). To determine how parallax occurs, the distance of the shift by stars is observed and with knowledge of the Earth’s orbital diameter, it is able to calculate the sky’s parallax angle. (Windows to the Universe, n.d).
The calculations therefore, determine that the smaller the parallax shift by stars, the further is from the Earth. In addition, if the parallax angle, corresponds to a minor shift in an apparent position along the celestial sphere due to differences observed on vantage points as the Earth’s orbit’s, the parallax angle can be measured...