Sirius,in Canis Major (the large hunting dog of Orion),is the brightest star in the winter night sky.It has a parallax angle of 0.38 seconds of arc.Orion's other hunting dog,Canis Minor,has as its brightest star Procyon,with a parallax angle of 0.29 seconds of arc.Vega,in Lyra the Lyre (Harp),is the brightest star in the summer night sky.It has a parallax angle of 0.13 seconds of arc.Which of these stars is the nearest to Earth?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The star with the largest parallax angle is the nearest star to Earth. Sirius has a parallax angle of 0.38 seconds of arc, which is larger than the parallax angles of Procyon (0.29 seconds of arc) and Vega (0.13 seconds of arc). Therefore, the nearest star to Earth is Sirius.

Sirius,in Canis Major (The Large Hunting Dog of Orion),is the Brightest