Vega and Altair
Classical Mechanics
Level
pending
The stars Vega and Altair are two of the three stars that form the "Summer Triangle." Vega's parallax angle is 0.13". Altair's parallax angle is 0.19" (approximations.) What can you conclude from this information?
No conclusions can be drawn from this infromation
Vega is about 8 light years farther away than Altair
Altait is intrinsically brighter
Altair is about 8 light years farther away than Vega
Vega is intrinsically brighter
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1 solution
One can calculate the distance from the stellar parallax angle by dividing 1 by the angle expressed in arc-seconds
Vega's parallax = 0.13"
Distance: (in parsecs) 1/0.13" = 7.7 parsecs
Altair's parallax = 0.19"
Distance: in parsecs) 1/019" = 5.3 parsecs
1 parsec = 3.26 light years
Vega's distance in light years: 7.7 x 3.26 = 25.1 light years
Altair's distance in light years: 5.3 x 3.26 = 17.2 light years
Vega is about 8 light years farther away from the Sun than Altair
Note: Vega is intrinsically brighter than Altair, but one would be unable to draw that conclusion based solely on the information provided within this problem.