Star A has a parallax of 0.04 seconds of arc. Star B has a parallax of 0.02 seconds of arc. Which star is more distant from the sun? What is the distance to star A from the sun, in parsecs? thanks?

1 Answer
Feb 24, 2016

Star B is more distant and its distance from Sun is 50 parsecs or 163 light years.

Explanation:

The relationship between a star's distance and its parallax angle is given by d = 1/p, where the distance d is measured in parsecs (equal to 3.26 light years) and the parallax angle p is measured in arcseconds.

Hence Star A is at a distance of 1/0.04 or 25 parsecs, while Star B is at a distance of 1/0.02 or 50 parsecs.

Hence Star B is more distant and its distance from Sun is 50 parsecs or 163 light years.