How Scientists Measure Distance in Space. Regarding outer space, the calculation of outer space does not use meters or kilometers, but uses a special unit called the Unit of light years. One light year is 9600 billion kilometers, you can imagine, right?
How far in space it is, the distance of the earth to the moon is 384400 km and it takes 4 days to get there, that distance if measured by light years is only 1 second.
Now we are talking about the distance of the sun to the nearest star, namely Proxima Centauri, in a matter of kilometers The distance between the two is 4 billion million kilometers. Wow, countless. Looks like the zero is really long. But if measured in units of light years, only 4.24 light years.
While the width of our Milky Way galaxy is 100000 light years, the distance between our galaxy and the nearest galaxy is Andromeda is 2.5 million light years, with this unit of light We can call distance more easily.
but have you ever not? Thinking from where Scientists can know these distances and can measure these distances, while they themselves have never been there, interesting question, right?
- Parallax Trigonometry
The first method used is the Parallax Trigonometry, Usually to measure the distance of stars that are close and visible from Earth The trick is simple!
Let's experiment, How do you hold out your hand and thumb forward? Then close your left eye, already? Now take turns Open your left eye Then close your right eye, It must be as if your thumbs Move, right?
With the same concept Scientists measure the distance of the star, Like the earth is our head, the star is the tip of our thumb while the extended left hand is the distance, both of our eyes are likened to the cycle of the earth's rotation, the right eye is June and the left eye is December.
That is why scientists only measure the distance of stars every June and December, this method is used to count all objects whose distances are only tens of thousands of light years from the earth.
- The Standard Candle Method or Calculation of Light
The Standard Candle is a method used to measure space objects that are very far away, usually outside our galaxy. Candles are likened to celestial bodies That glow, what does that mean?
Okay, for example, there are 2 people who are both holding a candle, you name it A and B, A stays in place while B is farther away, automatically the candle light B that is received by A will be fainter If you get farther away, this is where scientists calculate it , The amount of light that is seen by A, divided by the amount of light possessed from these calculations. A will know how much distance B is from him. This method can only be used to measure stars which are as far as 40 million light-years away, if further than that the stars will look blurry and not glowing.
To Know This Distance, Why Is It Important Until Now There Is No One Who Knows How Extensive The Universe Is, How Many Galaxies Are Out There And Are There Life Other Than On Earth? Somewhere that is not reached by us.
So what, guys? About distances in space And how scientists calculate the distances of planets in the universe.
The two methods are only some of the simple methods that we can understand easily, in fact there are many more theories and ways to calculate the distance of a planet, such as by trigonometry or even comparison. But calculations with mathematical formulas are usually used in certain conditions only, which certainly there are many ways scientists to determine the distance of a planet.
As the saying goes: There are many paths to Rome. It is the same as calculating the distance of planets from space or counting planets in outer space from our earth.
Thank you for reading. may be useful.
