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Astronomical Distance: Methods of Measurement

This document discusses several methods used to measure astronomical distances: - Radar uses time delay of reflected waves to measure close distances like asteroids, but signals become too weak beyond 100 million km. - Parallax measures the apparent shift in an object's position over 6 months and can measure up to 100 parsecs, beyond which measurements lack accuracy. - Standard candles use objects of known luminosity like supernovae or Cepheid variables to calculate distance through inverse square law comparisons of absolute and apparent magnitude. - Cepheid variables specifically pulse at a period correlating to their luminosity, allowing distance calculation from their light curve period. - Redshift is measured by comparing an object's emission spectrum to known standards like hydrogen, quantifying

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34 views5 pages

Astronomical Distance: Methods of Measurement

This document discusses several methods used to measure astronomical distances: - Radar uses time delay of reflected waves to measure close distances like asteroids, but signals become too weak beyond 100 million km. - Parallax measures the apparent shift in an object's position over 6 months and can measure up to 100 parsecs, beyond which measurements lack accuracy. - Standard candles use objects of known luminosity like supernovae or Cepheid variables to calculate distance through inverse square law comparisons of absolute and apparent magnitude. - Cepheid variables specifically pulse at a period correlating to their luminosity, allowing distance calculation from their light curve period. - Redshift is measured by comparing an object's emission spectrum to known standards like hydrogen, quantifying

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Astronomical Distance

Methods of measurement

Radar
o The classic method of measuring distance by sending waves and
recording the time delay taken for
the waves to return, and thus
calculating the distance travelled
by the waves in knowing their
speed and the time taken using
basic SUVAT equations.
o However, it is not very useful in
the field of astronomy, as the
distances to be measured are so
large, the reflected waves become too weak to be measured
accurately, or at all, in most cases. In the case of Venus, which was
successfully detected with radar, at 100 million km, the reflected
signal even then was very weak. Radar is obviously not the tool for
choice when distances of several million light years are common.
o However, it is useful in scenarios when smaller distances need to be
measured, for instance, when an asteroid is passing near Earth, you
can use radar to ascertain how far away it is, and also whether it is
getting closer or further away depending on whether the time delay
increases or decreases.

Parallax
o Parallax is the apparent change in position of an object due to
change in position of the viewer and thus the angle at which the
object is being observed. It is usually observed every 6 months,
when the Earth is on the opposite side of the sun, to calculate the
maximum parallax possible, which is itself half of the angle
measured between the two different positions.

When the parallax has been measured, the distance between the
Earth and the object can be calculated using trigonometry,
however, this method is not useful beyond distances of 100
parsecs, since the measurements beyond these are not accurate
enough.

Standard Candles
o A standard candle is a class of astrophysical objects, such as
supernovae or variable stars, which have known luminosity due to
some characteristic quality possessed by the entire class of objects.
o If a distant object can be identified as a standard candle, then its
absolute magnitude, M, can be known (derived from the logarithm
of its luminosity as seen from a distance of 10 parsecs). Using the
inverse square law, the distance of the object can be calculated
using the absolute magnitude, the apparent magnitude, m, (the
luminosity as observed by the viewer) using the equation:

Cepheid Variables
o A Cepheid variable is a star that pulsates radially, varying in both
temperature and diameter to produce
brightness changes with a well-defined
stable period and amplitude.
o A strong direct relationship between a
Cepheid variable's luminosity and
pulsation period means that their
distance can be easily calculated, and
they can be used as distance indicators.
o By measuring the period of a Cepheid
from its light curve (a graph of light
intensity if an astronomical object
against time), the distance can be
calculated.

Red Shift

Red and blue shift is a change in the colour of an astronomical body


due to the Doppler Effect changing the wavelengths of the waves

emitted by the object.


Red shift occurs when the object is moving away, increasing
wavelength, and blue shift occurs when the object is moving
towards you, decreasing wavelength.
It is quantified using for example the standard atomic emission
spectrum of Hydrogen, which is easily identifiable and known. By
comparison of such spectra, one can see the movement of the
emission line, here redshifted below:

Units of Distance

Astronomical Unit
o The distance between the Earth of the
Sun, now defined as exactly
149597870700m, since the actual
distance varies.
Light Year
o The distance travelled by light, or a
photon, in a year: 9.4 x 1015m to 2 s.f
Parsec
o An abbreviation for the parallax or one
arcsecond: the distance from the sun to
an astronomical object that has a
parallax angle of one arcsecond, an
arcsecond being 1/3600 of a degree, or
approximately 4.848 micro radians.

Equations for Distances


SHIFT

= cT (From Distance = Speed x Time)

Due to Doppler shift, the change in wavelength depends on the speed of


the object emiiting waves:
= T
Therefore describing the fractional change in wavelength:
/ = c/
This equation is more accurate for lower values for , and even though
relativity hasnt been taken into account, at lower values of , for example
10-4c, the correction for relativity is only 1/106.
RADAR
The distance travelled by the wave must be the universal constant
multiplied by time taken:

s = ct
However, this is twice the distance between the object and the viewer,
and the wave travels there and back, thus:

s = ct/2
PARALLAX
Using the angle , the parallax measured, tan() equals the radius of the
orbit of the Earth around the sun (an astronomical unit) divided by the
distance between the sun and the object.

tan() = r/d
Rearrangement gives us:

d = r/tan()
in degrees, d in m
A simple formula connects it to the distance d between a star and our
Sun:

tan() = radius of earths orbit (1AU)/distance


The parallax angle is always extremely small, we can say that
tan(), thus:

=> = 1/d

=>d = 1/
1 is 1AU, d in pc, in asec

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