For nearby stars we use parallax to estimate the distance. Snap a photograph of the sky, wait six months, then take another. The apparent shift in position, after deducting the actual shift, gives us an estimate of the distance as compared to far more distant background stars. One parsec corresponds to the distance at which the mean radius of the earth's orbit subtends an angle of one second of arc, and is equivalent to 3.26 light years.
This is how stellar distances are measured. What causes the enormous gulfs between stars are gravitational tides and the enormous empty space through which all these stars drift.
Stellar parallax
Light years or parsecs
Distance is determined by measuring the length between the start and end point.For example, short distances can be measured in feet, yards or metres.Longer distances would be measured in miles or kilometres.
In the solar system, the distances between planets are much larger compared to the size of the planets themselves. In the universe, the distances between galaxies are also vast compared to the sizes of the galaxies.
The location of 850 stars was determined by the Hipparcos satellite, launched by the European Space Agency in 1989. Hipparcos measured the positions, distances, and motions of these stars with very high precision using astrometry techniques. The data collected by Hipparcos significantly advanced our understanding of the structure and dynamics of the Milky Way galaxy.
Distances between stars and Earth are measured using a method called parallax. This involves observing the apparent shift in position of a star when viewed from different points in Earth's orbit around the Sun. By measuring this shift, astronomers can calculate the distance to the star.
The stars.
The first person to use RR Lyrae variable stars to determine distances in the Milky Way was astronomer Henrietta Leavitt in the early 1900s. She discovered the relationship between the luminosity and the pulsation period of these stars, which allowed astronomers to calculate their distances based on their apparent brightness. This groundbreaking work laid the foundation for establishing the scale of distances in our galaxy.
The mass of a star can be determined from a binary star system, specifically by measuring the orbital motion and interaction between the two stars. This allows astronomers to apply Kepler's laws of planetary motion to calculate the masses of both stars in the system.
The distance between stars in the Leo constellation varies greatly as they are at different distances from Earth. Some stars are hundreds of light-years away, while others are thousands or even tens of thousands of light-years away.
Vega, Deneb, and Altair form the vertices of the Summer Triangle in the night sky. The approximate distances from Earth to these stars are about 25 light-years for Vega, 1,425 light-years for Deneb, and 16.7 light-years for Altair. While these distances vary, the stars are not physically close to each other in space; they are separated by vast distances, with Deneb being the farthest away. The actual distances between the stars in light-years can be calculated using their respective coordinates, but they are all situated in different regions of our galaxy.
The stars in the Little Dipper, part of the Ursa Minor constellation, are at varying distances from Earth, ranging from about 48 light-years (for Polaris, the North Star) to over 300 light-years for other stars in the asterism. The distances between individual stars in the Little Dipper are not uniform and can be quite vast, often exceeding several dozen light-years. For example, the closest pair of stars, Polaris and Kochab, are approximately 48 light-years and 130 light-years from us, making the distance between them roughly 82 light-years. Overall, the distances between stars can significantly vary, reflecting their unique positions in our galaxy.