Process / pipelineGeometrical measurement
Astrometry (Parallax)
Astrometric parallax is the foundational geometric method for measuring distances to nearby stars, based on observing the apparent shift in a star's position as Earth orbits the Sun. First successfully demonstrated by Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel in 1838 for the star 61 Cygni, parallax remains the most direct and reliable distance measurement in astronomy, anchoring the entire cosmic distance ladder.
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Sources
- ESA (1997). The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues. Astrometric and photometric star catalogue. European Space Agency Technical Reports, SP-1200. link ↗
- van Leeuwen, F. (2007). Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 474(2), 653-664. DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20078357 ↗
- Gaia Collaboration (2016). Gaia Data Release 1: Astrometry-one billion positions, two million proper-motions and parallaxes. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 595, A2. DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201629512 ↗