Measuring the Distance to SS Cygni Using the Parallax Technique (IMAGE)

International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research

Measuring the Distance to SS Cygni Using the Parallax Technique

Caption

As the Earth orbits the Sun, SS Cygni appears to move back and forth relative to the position of a distant background galaxy, which is so far away that it stays stationary on the sky. The size of the apparent "wobble" of SS Cygni gives a direct measure of the distance; the further away SS Cygni is from Earth, the smaller the wobble.

Credit

Image credit: J. Miller-Jones (ICRAR)

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