Stern current parallax

A method of astronomical distance determination is referred to as star current parallax . This makes use of the fact that in a star current the individual stars move almost parallel through space. If the common vanishing point of the star group can be determined on the basis of the measured intrinsic movements , their distance can be calculated from the radial velocities that can be determined in the spectra . For this purpose, a narrow triangle consisting of direction, radial velocity and star distance is resolved mathematically.

The first application of this method took place around 1930 on the basis of the star cluster of the Hyades in Taurus. Most of its single stars have almost parallel directions of movement in space, the vanishing point of which was located in northern Orion .

literature

• H. Zimmermann, A. Weigert, Lexicon of Astronomy . Spektrum-Verlag, Heidelberg 1999