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When we use parallax to measure the distance to planets in space, why do we need...

When we use parallax to measure the distance to planets in space, why do we need to measure angles relative to a distant reference object?

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Answer #1

A object which is more distant has very negligible relative velocity with respect to earth so the position of the object is very nearly constant even in very long interval of time. On the other hand for the objects which are near to earth, this is not true.

To calculate the distance of an object by parallax method we have to measure the change of its angular position with respect to an object which is in the state of absolutely rest. In theory there in no such object but the distant object provided a good approximation of this types of object so we measure angle relative to a distant object treating them as reference object in state of absolutely rest.

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