DISTANCES TO NEARBY STARS
AND THEIR MOTIONS:
An Introductory Astronomy Lab

Introduction: The Parallax Effect

Geometry of Observations

[ Comet Hyakutake: geometry of observations ]

The apparent shift in position of the comet in the photographs on the previous page arise from the fact that the observers were situated about 3000 kilometers apart, and the comet is much closer than the stars beyond.

Go back to the introduction.