Star-Stallar Parallax and Space Navigation

• Stars’ positions relative to other stars can shift due to stellar parallax, a phenomenon occurring every six months when the earth is on opposite sides of the sun.

• This phenomenon provides two different viewpoints, similar to looking at a candle with one eye at a time.

• Interplanetary missions are monitored by earth-centered radio antennae, which decreases signal strength as spacecraft travel farther.

• New Horizons, a spacecraft launched by NASA in 2006, was at 46.89-times the earth-sun distance, close to the 47.11 AU estimated by radio-tracking.

• Astronomers have discovered a simple trick to help New Horizons navigate through space using only two stars.

• The New Horizons mission, launched in 2006, went beyond 60x the sun-earth distance in 2024, a new record.

• The study proposes a simple way to navigate spacecraft using stellar parallax, the same method early astronomers used to measure stars’ distances from the earth.

Star Navigation Study: A New Approach

• Astronomers observed two stars from Earth using New Horizons’ instruments, Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359.

• The stars were chosen for their large parallaxes and brightness for the camera.

• The European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft provided the 3D positions of stars in a fixed, universal reference frame.

• The parallax was 32.4 arcseconds for Proxima and 15.7 arcseconds for Wolf 359 at the time of measurement.

• The parallax indicated that New Horizons was positioned at 46.89-times the earth-sun distance, close to the 47.11 AU estimated by radio-tracking measurements from the earth.

• The technique could be the simplest way to navigate spacecraft as it doesn’t require special equipment.

• The study is not yet ready for practical use, but a better camera on another spacecraft could help improve accuracy.

• The study is not practical for navigation on New Horizons, but could be useful for deeper space missions like interstellar travel.

• Researchers are also investigating pulsar navigation, which uses rapidly spinning neutron stars to show the way.

Star Distance Measurement is important topic for Civil service exam (WBCS).

🚨Daily Current Affairs MCQ pdf download- Google Drive Link https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PN6A2mDkCngLsGR115zhZ_vTV8W7AKN8?usp=drive_link

✅Telegram channel link: https://t.me/TheSoumyaSir

✅Attempt the daily current affairs test in our free section of app (android and ios) : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.iron.rrnvu

✅ Interview related telegram group https://t.me/IASWBCSInterview 🔥 Book free consultation with WBCS Gr A Officer: https://bit.ly/Free-Appointment-with-Soumya-Sir-Other-WBCS-A-Officer

✅ Courses https://www.wbcsmadeeasy.in/courses/

✅ Attempt previous years questions : Link: https://bit.ly/wbcs-pyq-wbcsmadeeasy

✅ Take subject wise Chapterwise mock test : https://bit.ly/wbcs-prelims-all-subjects-chapter-wise-test

✅ Bio – https://bit.ly/m/wbcs-made-easy

✅ App download – Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.iron.rrnvu&pcampaignid=web_share (iOS available too)

WBCS MADE EASY www.wbcsmadeeasy.in

8274048710/8585843673

Jawahar IAS www.jawaharias.in

7439954855