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they couldn't measure small angles

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βˆ™ 12y ago
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βˆ™ 11y ago

They didnt have precise tools

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Q: Why were ancient people unable to detect stellar parallax?
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Why did the existence of stellar parallax not convince people in Copernicus time that his model was better than Ptolemys geopcentric model?

Stellar parallax could not be observed until hundreds of years after Copernicus: the effect is very small. Rejection of the Copernican system was not irrational.


What is it called when astronomers estimate the distance from Earth using the fact that nearby stars shift in position as observed from Earth?

That is called parallax and it happens when a nearby star appears to move against the background as the Earth moves round the Sun. The baseline is the mean radius of the Earth's orbit (not the diameter) and a star which has a parallax of 1 arc-second would be at a distance of 1 parsec. In practice the nearest stars have a parallax of about 0.7 seconds so are at a distance of 1.4 parsecs or 4 light-years. Parallaxes are always small and require sensitive instruments to measure. The lack of parallax was formerly used as a proof that the Earth must be fixed, and it took until 1838 for Bessel to measure the first stellar parallax. After that people began to realise that the stars are much further away than they had thought.


Why was the seismograph important to china?

The seismograph was important to ancient china because it could detect an earthquake and warn people so they could escape.


Why should you avoid parallax?

There is no such way to avoid parallax error, you just have to be careful.. :)


What type of crossing can detect people are on them?

Puffin crossings have special sensors built in which can detect when people is there.


Can airport dogs detect cancer in people?

Yes, some dogs are trained to detect lung cancer in people.


How many different odors can People with a normal sense of smell detect?

Most people can detect about 10,000 different smells!


What does stellar mean?

The word stellar means of or relating to stars. It is also used to speak of some people (often entertainers) whose performance is brilliant -- like a bright star.


What planet would have no advantage of any kind over earth for making parallax measurements?

You have to ask yourself what is an advantage when parallax measurements are being made? . . parallax happens when you move to a different place and the object you see look a little different, the closest ones appear to have moved more than the ones that are further away. In astronomy parallax is created when the Earth is in opposite points of its orbit. Stars that are close appear to have moved a little, relative to the mass of stars that are a long distance away. Parallax was not observed before the 19th century, and the lack of parallax was always used to 'prove' that the Earth could not possibly be going round the Sun. It was only in the 19th century that parallax was observed, but it was only very tiny movements of the closest stars. It forced people to realise that the stars are incredibly far away and the Earth does go round the Sun after all, so it was extra evidence of the Sun being at the centre of the solar system. A parallax measurement is easier to make if the baseline is longer, so the answer to your question is that Mercury and Venus have no advantage for making parallax measurements.


How to find distance between alpha centauri and sun?

The distance is found by measuring the Parallax, which is the small amount that alpha centauri seems to move backwards and forwards, against the general background of distant stars, as the Earth goes round the Sun. For a long time - until 1838 - no parallax had been detected for any star, which was used by many people as a good reason why the Earth did not move at all. But in that year Friedrich Bessel measured the parallax for a star for the first time, confirming the Earth's movement. The problem was that there was parallax all along but it was so small it had never been detected for any star. After Bessel's measurements people started to realise how unimaginably distant the stars really are. Bessel's famous measurement was done on the star 61 Cygni, which is further than alpha centauri, but people soon started looking for parallax in other stars. The parallax of alpha centauri is 0.77 arc-seconds, so its distance in parsecs is 1/0.77, or 1.3, which is 4.3 light-years.


Why did human eyes evolve to detect visible light?

Because the people whose eyes could not detect visible light didn't surviveto have children. They were completely outclassed, outhunted, and outfoughtby the people whose eyes could detect it.


Does a lady feel like she has a smell that people can detect?

no