How do you measure the distance between the sun and the earth?
Really, how to find the distance between two objects at such a huge distance? No matter how difficult it may be, science has come up with one way or another. So I don't know how science made this possible.
The term ‘light year’ is often used to refer to the distances of distant planets and stars. It is not convenient to use a simple kilometer unit to measure the distances of space objects outside the solar system. This special unit called ‘light year’ is used to measure such a huge distance. The enormity of the light year goes beyond human imagination. The speed of light is three lakh kilometers per second. If light travels at this speed for one year, then the distance it will cover is called one light year. If light years are expressed in kilometers, one light year is equal to 9 million million kilometers (9 × 10 ^ 12 kilometers). The nearest star to our solar system, Proxima Center, is 4.2 light-years away. Distant galaxies are hundreds or even thousands of light years away. What is the technique of measuring such a huge distance?
Although very difficult, but this work can be done very easily. The "parallax" method is used to measure the distances of relatively nearby planets. This is actually a very simple trick.
First one finger of the hand should be held in front of the eyes, then the left eye should be closed and only the finger should be seen with the right eye. Again close the right eye and see only with the left eye. If you move left and right a few times, you will see that the finger is moving back and forth. But the finger is in the same place, such a change is due to the difference in the eyes. Notice the image below.
Moving the finger closer to the eye will actually increase its movement. Again, if the finger is moved farther away without being brought closer, then the movement of the finger will be reduced. Then it is understood that due to the two different positions of the two eyes, the change in movement is less. If you bring it close to the finger, its movement increases and if you move it away, the movement decreases. The same method is used for stars.
But the stars are so far away that it is impossible to understand their change with the help of fingers. All we have to do is keep our chokes at a distance of one million km. Away But this is by no means possible for us. And that's why scientists use an extraordinary method. The diameter of the Earth's orbit around the Sun is 18 million miles. The distance between the position of the Earth in orbit today and the position it will be exactly six months from now will be 18 miles. This is a fairly long distance. At such a distance, the parallax of distant stars can be easily identified.
By measuring the position of a star from a position in the orbit, and measuring that star again after six months, its distance can be determined using the parallax method. Since the distances between the two positions of the earth are known six months ago and six months later and the position of the star is known, it will be possible to find the distance of the star from here by means of trigonometry.
But life is not always so beautiful. This method must be adhered to. But this is only possible in the case of nearby planets and stars. But scientists also calculate the distance from one galaxy to another. In that case they measure this distance based on the brightness of the star. Very beautiful, through radiance. But I'm talking about how much trouble it is.
The brightness of the stars depends on their mass and size. Despite knowing the size and mass, the problem still remains. If a brighter star is farther away from us and a less bright star is nearby, then the less bright star will look brighter because of the distance. It's too much trouble. But scientists have got rid of it. Scientists use some proof stars for this. Fortunately, scientists can find this proof star. And from here they calculate the distance using some special formula.
In fact, no matter how difficult science may be, one way or another it will work out.