parsec

Also known as pc, parallax of one second, parallax second

The parsec (symbol: pc) is a unit of length used to measure the large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System, approximately equal to or (au), i.e. . The parsec unit is obtained by the use of parallax and trigonometry, and is defined as the distance at which 1 au subtends an angle of one arcsecond ( of a degree). The nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is about from the Sun: from that distance, the gap between the Earth and the Sun spans slightly less than one arcsecond. Most stars visible to the naked eye are within a few hundred parsecs of the Sun, with the most distant a

AI overview

A parsec is a unit of distance used by astronomers to measure how far away stars and galaxies are from Earth, roughly equal to 3.26 light-years. It's defined using the angle that Earth's orbit makes as seen from distant stars, which allows astronomers to calculate cosmic distances using geometry and observations from different positions in Earth's orbit around the Sun.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

In the Vinony graph

Vinony's link graph records 9,182 inbound references to parsec, and connects out to minute and second of arc, subtended angle and International Astronomical Union.

It sits within the topics 1913 in science, Concepts in astronomy and Parallax.

Vinony links it to 90 Wikipedia language editions.

Key facts

Unit.name: parsec
Unit.image: Stellarparallax parsec1.svgclass=skin-invert-image
Unit.caption: A parsec is the distance from the Sun to an astronomical object that has a parallax angle of one arcsecond (not to scale)
Unit.standard: astronomical units
Unit.quantity: length/distance
Unit.symbol: pc
Unit.units1: metric (SI) units
Unit.inunits1: ≈ 
Unit.units2: imperial  US units
Unit.units3: astronomical units

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Show 8 more facts

Commons category: Parsec (unit of length)
measured physical quantity: length
conversion to SI unit: 30856775814913672.789139379577964716107319211604091798014040192277023292186999296869832135338806555993327012023800588277832475
conversion to standard unit: 33745380316394900
unit symbol: pc
Wikidata SPARQL query equivalent: wd:Q12129 p:P2370/psn:P2370 [wikibase:quantityAmount ?source; wikibase:quantityUnit ?base]. ?item p:P2370/psn:P2370 [wikibase:quantityAmount ?target; wikibase:quantityUnit ?base]. BIND(?source / ?target as ?value)
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
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