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ERIC Number: EJ825949
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Jan
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0143-0807
EISSN: N/A
An International Parallax Campaign to Measure Distance to the Moon and Mars
Cenadelli, D.; Zeni, M.; Bernagozzi, A.; Calcidese, P.; Ferreira, L.; Hoang, C.; Rijsdijk, C.
European Journal of Physics, v30 n1 p35-46 Jan 2009
Trigonometric parallax is a powerful method to work out the distance of celestial bodies, and it was used in the past to measure the distance of the Moon, Venus, Mars and nearby stars. We set up an observation campaign for high school and undergraduate students with the purpose to measure both the Moon's and Mars' parallax. To have a large enough baseline (or basis), we took simultaneous pictures of these celestial bodies from Italy and South Africa. Then, we estimated the apparent shift relative to background stars and, via trigonometry, we worked out the distances of the Moon and Mars. Reliable results were found. (Contains 7 figures and 8 footnotes.)
Institute of Physics Publishing. The Public Ledger Building Suite 929, 150 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 215-627-0880; Fax: 215-627-0879; e-mail: info@ioppubusa.com; Web site: http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/EJP
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Higher Education
Audience: Students; Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Italy; South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A