The nearest star to our solar system is 4.29 light-years away. How much is this distance In terms of parsecs? How much parallax would this star (named Alpha Centaurl) show when viewed from two locations of the Earth six months apart in Its orbit around the Sun?
Distance of Alpha Centauri from the Earth = 4.29 ly
= 4.29 × 365 × 24 v 3600 × 3 × 108= 4.06 × 1016m
1 parsec = 3.084 × 1016 m
∴ Distance = ((4.06 x 1016)/(3.084 x 1016)) = 1.32parsec.
D = b/θ
b = 3 × 104, D = 4.06 × 1016 m
Parallax θ = 2 × D = 2.64
