📐 Stellar Parallax Distance
The original cosmic ruler: measure a star's tiny yearly wobble, get its distance.
Results
- Distance
- 1.30039 parsecs
- In light-years
- 4.2413 ly
- Proxima check: ~1.30 pc / 4.24 ly
How it works
d (parsecs) = 1 / p (arcseconds)
As Earth orbits the Sun, nearby stars appear to shift against distant background stars. That shift (parallax) gives a direct geometric distance — the foundation of the cosmic distance ladder. Gaia has measured over a billion stars this way.
Assumptions: Parallax in arcseconds; small-angle geometry.
Reference: ESA Gaia mission