Astronomy 020 — Lab 5

Parallax and Distance to the Moon

Objectives
1. To learn the meaning of the term parallax, which refers to the apparent size and position of objects that
are at different distances from an observer.
2. To build a simple device for measuring angular size of objects by employing the concept of parallax.
3. To test the accuracy of an angular measurement by comparing the resulting calculating to an accepted
value — in this case the known distance to the Moon.
Introduction
In this fun and easy lab, we will measure the angular size of the Moon, which will allow us to estimate the
distance to the Moon. But first, we will start by measuring the parallax of a pen held at arm’s length, which will
allow us to estimate the length of your arm. The techniques in this lab are
frequently used by professional astronomers.
Throughout this lab we will use the "small angle" formula. This is a
formula that describes the relationship between size, angular size, and distance.
The small angle formula is based on the trigonometric definition of sine, which
involved right-angle triangles (see Figure 1). If we call the adjacent side of the
triangle 𝑑 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 and the opposite side 𝐷 = 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟, then our
trigonometric expression becomes:

𝐷
sin(𝜃) =
𝑑
Equation 1

where 𝜃 is the Greek letter “theta” and is assigned to the angle shown in the
Figures 1 and 2. If
Figure 1: Trigonometric Definitions D
the 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 and
𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 are those
of the Moon, then our triangle might look something θ d
like Figure 2, but not to scale.
In the case of forming a right-triangle with
these values of the Moon, we can imagine that the
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 is much larger than the 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑑 ≫ 𝐷. Figure 2: Angle formed by the distance to and diameter of the Moon.
When such a large inequality exists between 𝑑 & 𝐷
we can use the “small angle” approximation mentioned above. This approximation states that sin(𝜃) ≈ 𝜃 if the
angle 𝜃 is sufficiently small (𝜃 less than about 15° = 0.26 radians) and 𝜃 must be measured in radians. However,
since radians may be unfamiliar, we will convert to degrees using the fact that 180° = 𝜋 radians. So, this means
we can rewrite Equation 1 as:
𝐷 180° 𝐷
𝜃 = ⋅@ A = ⋅ (57.3°)
𝑑 𝜋 𝑑
Equation 2

where we have an equation that lets us relate angular size, 𝜃, in degrees to 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 and 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟. Throughout
the lab, when we use this formula the meanings of diameter (𝐷), angular size (𝜃), and distance (𝑑) will change,
but the underlying principle will be the same.

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Procedure:
A. In this first part of the lab, you will build your angular size measuring tool, which we will call a
anglometer. This tool will need to measure small angles, and since protractors are only best for measuring
large angles, but we need specialized tool that we will build ourselves.
a. Cut out a strip of paper or cardboard about 3 inches wide and 8.5 inches long. Hold the paper at
arm's length in front of you and measure the straight distance from the paper to your eyes. You
can measure the distance directly with a tape measure, or you can measure the distance with a
string first and then measure the length of the string with a ruler. Be sure to make this distance
measurement in centimeters. Repeat this measurement three sperate times, and have different
people help you with the measurement, if possible, so you can get an average value that is a better
estimate.
b. Now we want to make marks on the paper that will be 1.0° apart, when the paper is held at arm's
length. We use the small-angle formula (Equation 2) to calculate how far apart these marks
should be. We have already measured the distance, 𝑑, we need to use in the formula. We want the
angular separation (angular size, 𝜃) of the marks to be 1.0°. The formula tells us how far apart our
two marks need to be. The distance between the marks will be given by the diameter, 𝐷, value in
Equation 2.
c. Now use a ruler to place big tick marks on the piece of paper we cut out earlier. The marks should
be separated by the amount we just calculated with the small angle formula. Label the big tick
marks 0°, 1°, 2°, 3°, 4°, and 5°. Divide the space between each big tick mark into 4 equally sized
intervals by drawing 3 smaller tick marks between the major tick marks. These smaller tick marks
will be 1/4 ° apart when the paper is held at arm's length, 𝑑, from your eyes.
B. In this second part of the lab, we will use the small angle formula in a slightly different way. The "size"
will be the distance between your eyes, and the "angular size" will be the angle between two distant
landmarks. We will use the small-angle formula to calculate the distance from your eyes to your hand,
which corresponds to distance, 𝑑, in Equation 2. This is similar to how parallax is primarily used by
astronomers to measure the distance to nearby stars.
a. Measure the distance between your eyes (center of one pupil to the center of the next pupil). Use
a tape measure or a string as described above for measuring your arm.
b. Now hold a pen at arm's length. Close one eye and note which background feature the pen is
blocking. Then switch eyes and note which background feature the pen is now blocking. The
background features should be as distant as
possible.
c. Use your anglometer to measure the angle
between the two landmark features that were
blocked by the pen. Just hold up the
anglometer in front of the objects instead of
the pen and keep both eyes open. This angle
is the same as the angle from one of your
eyes to the pen to your other eye. See Figure
3 to visualize how these two angles are the
same.
d. We now know the separation of your eyes
(𝐷 = 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟) and the angular separation
of your eyes, so we can use the small-angle
formula (Equation 2) to calculate the length
Figure 3: Parallax with basis to measure distant to nearby
(𝑑 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒) from your eyes to the hand object.
you used to hold the pen and anglometer.
C. Now that we have constructed and calibrated your
anglometer and had some experience using it to further understand the concept of parallax, we can use it
to measure the diameter of the Moon. For best results, the Moon's phase should not be a thin crescent

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 since it's more difficult to discern the full diameter. Quarter moon through gibbous and full moon phases
will all work well. Hold your anglometer at arm's length, so that it partially covers the Moon. Note how
many small tick marks it takes to cross the diameter of the Moon and how many degrees this corresponds
to. Estimate fractions of a small tick mark spacing in your measurements (i.e., you might get a
measurement of 2.3 small tick marks). Make the measurement several times so as to report an average.

Questions
Part A
1. Report the value that you measured for the distance from your eyes to the anglometer held in your hand.
Make sure this is an average of three repeated measurements. Show your calculations and answer with
units of cm.

2. Briefly describe the technique your used to measure this distance.

3. Show your calculations for finding the spacing between the big tick marks. You will be rearranging
Equation 2 to find this spacing that corresponds to angular spacing of 1.0° each.

4. Attach a picture of your anglometer in the space provided below.

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Part B
5. Record the technique you used to measure the distance between your eyes. And report the value you
found in units of cm. As with Question 1, this needs to be an average from three repeated measurements.

6. Report the angular separation between two distant objects that your measured with your anglometer.

7. Show your calculation for the distance from your eyes to your hand used to hold the pen and the
anglometer. Like Question 3, you will be rearranging Equation 2 to find this value of distance, 𝑑.

8. How does this calculated value of distance, 𝑑, compare to the value you directly measured in Question 1?
|"#$%&'#()*$+*&+$,#(|
Report a percent difference between the values using the formula % 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓 = !"#$%&"'()#*)%*#+"' × 100.
- .
,

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 9. This part of the procedure is quite similar to the way astronomers measure the distance of nearby stars
(but astronomers' measurements are much more accurate). Other differences include:
• The distance to the pen becomes the distance to the nearby star.
• The angle between the background features becomes the angle between very distant stars or galaxies.
• The spacing between your eyes becomes the distance between Earth's position on opposite sides of its
orbit around the Sun.
Considering these differences, why would astronomical parallax as described above not work for
measuring the diameter of the Moon? Try to be as clear as possible in explaining your answer.

10. This leaves an open question; how do you think astronomers were first able to estimate the diameter of
the Moon of they could not use parallax? Write down your best guess, and then see if you can find an
answer on the internet. Could you find an answer? What was it? Were your correct in your guess?

Part 3
11. Report your measured angular size of the Moon that you found using your anglometer. This value should
be in degrees. Make sure this is an average of three repeated measurements that are clearly shown below.

12. The actual angular size of the Moon is about 𝜃/001 = 0.50°. How close was your value in degrees? Does
these seem acceptably close? If not, what do you think went wrong?

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 13. Now, if your value for the angular size of the Moon was acceptably close to real value, proceed to
calculating the distance, 𝑑, to the Moon. To make this calculation, consider that the diameter, 𝐷, of the
Moon is known to be 𝐷/001 = 3476 km. Show your calculation using Equation 2 rearranged and your
answer below. Your answer should be in units of km.

14. The actual average distance to the Moon is 𝑑/001 = 3.84 × 102 km. What is the percent error between
your calculated value based of your measurements and this accepted value? To calculate percent error,
|"#$%&'#()$**#3,#(|
use the formula % 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = $**#3,#(
× 100. Show your work and answer below.

15. Are you satisfied with this percent error? Do you think it shows that your measurements were done
carefully, and no mistakes were made? What could/would you do differently to improve your
measurement and make this percent error value smaller?

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