Clearest explanation of parallax and parsecs that I've found to date!

I am a Physics teacher from Pakistan. I am genuinely inspired by you, owing to your extremely practical explanations. Unfortunately, I teach online. Had this not been the case, I would've taught my students the same way as you do.

Can someone explain clearly how the parallax angle (p) is derived purely from the distance of displacement of the star against the faraway stars? If all I know if the distance of the earth to the sun, and the distance the star has seemingly moved against the background, how is that distance translated to the parallax angle? All that is said in the video is that after we measure the amount the star has moved against the background after 6 months, we know the angle. How do we determine the angle if all we see is a distance of displacement? We can’t see angles as such.

Amazing video. Helped me make sense of my college lecture. Thanks Paul!

For the past 1 year I was trying to figure out the parallax method. Only after watching your video I am satisfied that I really understood. Thanks a lot. Very simple and detailed explanation. Could you please share the link of your video for other method? ( luminasity)

In studying the subject I think it’s so much fun...Thank you for this video!

Awesome, outstanding, Marvelous, STUPENDOUS Explanation!!!

Best video on this topic on KZfaq This detailed explanation is what I needed

Well done lecture. You made it interesting.

Such an awesome explanation!

Very minor, you ref to approximate and used the symbol for exact. very well done appreciate your work Thanks.

Great explanation of parallax I’m 13 and I’m studying astronomy a lot and this is one of the last things I need to know and you simplified to make it less complex

Amazing explanation!

Great video and explanations

if I got this correct 50000 parsec would be 160 thousand light years that to me seems incredible. Thanks so much for the information.

What about the Sun’s Motion around the Galactic centre? While the Earth revolves half a circle around the Sun, the Sun itself has moved with respect to the galactic centre. If our target of observation is not moving at the same speed as our Sun so that any motion relative to the background stars are due to the Earth’s motion around the Sun, then the parallax measured will not correspond to a baseline of 2 AU, but 2 AU + the distance moved by the Sun instead. This problem has puzzled me for quite some time and I have no idea how to get it solved... Does this means that the method of parallax is applicable only to those stars moving in the same spiral arm as our Sun?

how do u measure the angle?!!?!?

8:53 how do you measure that angle though

We use parallax to determine that stars are extremely far away. To measure the parallax and determine the distance, we have to use as large of a baseline as possible because the stars are extremely far away..

How is it done to make the perdincular of the baseline to exactly go toward the star you want to measure the distance to? Do you measure the angle everyday for 365 days and then choose the pair of angles that are 6 months apart and have the same value?

how do you know how much angle shifted by just viewing the star shifting...

So we get a triangle with a base of 0,000316 Lightyear and a length of about 4,4 Lightyear, and that is for the nearest star. The shifting should be really really small right? And we have to assume stars are not moving. I cannot get my head around it.

How did you get 41.4 for the one side?

Conclusion of the video: Great knowledge= Great Math

If we use this baseline measurement to check the distance of stars, how do we know our baseline measurement is good? Isn't measuring the distance to the sun difficult to do accurately, and if that baseline is off, would it result in...rough measurements? My brain is having a hard time with this one.

The important point to be explained is HOW the small angle is measured

Try decaf

How to find the angle as 1 parsec

Parallax you say? ....in brightest day ....

OOPS! My bad ! Diameter of earth's orbit, not of the earth. Of course earth's orbit is elliptical and the earth's position is not at the center of the ellipse, but in common parlance the radius is 93 million miles give or take ... because for a 1/2 of a base line, considering the change of position of the solar system in 6 months, is 2,2 trillion miles .. that makes the earth orbit diameter only 4 % of what the base line should be should actually be.. i guess making the star 96% farther from our solar system.

0:06 If you you knew what I know about them, 😒 you wouldn't want to even look at them.

So how far is the sun from the moon? And....how big is the sun and the moon?

Without knowing trigonometry, you are wasting time here

BUT! You are going by earth's diameter. Have you forgotten that our solar system has travelled @ 500,000 mile per hour for 4380 hours(6 months)!!! ... So, earth's position in relation to that star has changed by 2 200 000 000 miles (forget the earth's diameter!) Whoa! Put that in your parallax and smoke it ... that star is not so very far away!!!

This all wrong. How can you use a simply way to measure. The formula doesn't take into account how light travel through space it only takes into account how light travels through air. Also, it doesn't take into account how gravity bends light. It doesn't take into account the space time that is bending around the sun and earth. It doesn't take into account the temperature of space and how light travels through it. It doesn't take into account that after a certain point parallel lines are no longer parallel. It doesn't take into account the movement of any heavenly body or the rotation of the earth. This formula uses currency math (math used inside earths closed system, used for counting money, used to find area for square, doesn't take into account any force being imposed, all parallel lines are always parallel), it doesn't use language math (math which includes all forces being imposed, parallel are only parallel for a certain distance as long as no force is being imposed). In other words, you can't measure something like that using this equation because it doesn't take into effect any forces being imposed on the light that is traveling.

I bet you have a very nice telescope

All your calculations are based on a stated distance from the sun to the earth but you don't tell us how we can know that this stated distance is correct. What if I had no knowledge of any distances to any of the celestial bodies? Tell me how I can calculate distances to the sun, moon, and stars beginning without any claims of known distances to them.

Pay attention in math class kids