Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Measure the star's parallax. Observe the position of a nearby star with respect to the more distant stars behind it, then measure the same distances again six months later, when the Earth is on the other side of its orbit.
Record the angle created by the apparent movement of the star relative to its background.
Use published trigonometry formulas regarding parallax. Once you have the correct parallax angle, widely published trigonometry formulas will allow you to calculate the distance to your star. Parallax measurements have been around for centuries, and these formulas are easily found in textbooks, white papers and theses at university libraries or astronomy departments, or through online searches.
Use star charts or a computer-guided telescope to find a variable star, such as a Cepheid, and measure its pulsation period.
Consult Cepheid luminosity charts. As Cepheids have a precise relationship between their luminosity, or intrinsic brightness, and the pulsation period, if you can find a Cepheid variable, you can measure its intrinsic brightness.
Compare the Cepheid's intrinsic brightness to its measured apparent brightness here on Earth. Use Cepheid luminosity formulas from the chart to determine the distance to the star.
Star-hop. Once you have found the distance to one star, you can use that star as a base to help you determine the distance to other stars. As stars tend to exist in clusters or galaxies, once you find the distance to one star, you have an immediate approximate distance for all of its neighboring stars.