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03:08am | Sep 27, '08 | No Comments
okay so this is another short amazing fact from my journey into astronomy.
Ever wonder how scientists track the speed and distance of a star in the old days ?
Okay so, first off is the distance. The Parallax Method. I love it. The very first method of trigonometry, used for triangulating the distance of a star from earth.
Alright, the parallax method is the concept that if you are given a baseline and the angles at each end of a triangle, the missing dimensions can then be mathematically caculated. The method involves taking triangulated sightings of a star at 6 month intervals and/or in effect using the earths path around the sun as the baseline and each bi annual sighting as the angles at each end. The system has a margin for error but, in 1838 three astronomers by the names of Friedrich Bessel, Thomas Henderson, and F.G.W. Struve, successfully calculated the distances of three stars, on their own accord, using the parallax method. The farthest by Struve, being the star Vega, which is now believed