Parallax in the park

TL;DR

This paper details an undergraduate physics experiment demonstrating parallax measurement techniques, comparing digital camera-based distance estimates with actual measurements, achieving high accuracy and illustrating principles used in astronomy.

Contribution

It presents a practical, educational parallax experiment with quantitative analysis, linking classroom physics to astronomical distance measurement methods.

Findings

Average error of 0.5% in distance measurement

Parallax method effectively estimates distances between 3 and 8 meters

Educational demonstration of astronomical techniques

Abstract

This article describes a parallax experiment performed by undergraduate physics students at Queensland University of Technology. The experiment is analogous to the parallax method used in astronomy to measure distances to the local stars. The result of one of these experiments is presented in this paper. A target was photographed using a digital camera at five distances between 3 and 8 metres from two vantage points spaced 0.6 m apart. The parallax distances were compared with the actual distance measured using a tape measure and the average error was 0.5 +/- 0.9%.