Lecture-Tutorial Parallax, Part 2

Part 2: Distances
On the diagram in Part 1, draw a second star on the dashed line farther from the Sun than Star A.
Do this in another color or style (dotted line?), and label it Star B. Repeat steps 1a and 1b, and
label the parallax angle PB .
Questions:
1. Which star, A or B, has the larger parallax angle?
2. Consider the following discussion between two students working on this tutorial.
Student 1: If the distance from the star is more than 1 parsec, then the parallax angle
must be more than 1 arcsecond. Larger distance means larger angle.
Student 2: If we drew a diagram for a star that was much more than 1 parsec away
from us, the triangle in the diagram would be pointer (have a smaller parallax angle)
than the one we drew in Part 1.
Do you agree with student 1 or student 2, or neither? WHY????
Summing Up:
1. The two factors that affect the size of a parallax angle are:
a.
b.
Fill in the following using the words increases or decreases
2. Increasing the distance of an object, _____________ the parallax.
3. Increasing the baseline, _____________ the parallax.